Over Her Head
by RGAP-48
Summary: -COMPLETE- Brady and Sami make a bet that Sami refuses to lose. She has to go two months living with Lucas without letting Brady find out that she has feelings for Lucas. Will she win the bet or is she in over her head this time? Lumi and Bricole
1. The Bet

Over Her Head

Chapter One

Brady and Sami sat at the Java Café in awkward silence. Ever since Belle had broken up with Shawn, she had been eager to spend more time with her brother and sister. She had wanted to have lunch with both Brady and Sami that afternoon and, knowing how upset she was about her break-up with Shawn, neither of them had been able to tell her no. Now they waited for Belle to show up, who was already ten minutes late.

Sami had been in an unusually good mood that week, while Brady was going through one of the hardest weeks of his life. It was weird how the same event had affected both of them so differently. Victor's death was what put Sami in such a good mood and Victor's death was also the thing Brady was having such a hard time dealing with. Sami couldn't believe he was really out of her life and wouldn't be able to make her miserable anymore. Brady just wished he had been able to do something to stop the murder from happening.

Sami looked up at Brady curiously, unable to stay silent any longer, "How much money did Victor leave you with, anyway?" she asked.

Brady's eyes stayed focused on the napkin he was slowly shredding into tiny pieces, "Enough." he mumbled.

"I bet Nicole didn't get a cent." Sami smirked at the idea of Nicole being left penny-less after the long-awaited death of her husband.

Brady finally seemed to snap out of his impassive state, "It's funny you should bring that up. Victor had made a new will, one that would have probably cut Nicole out of the picture completely. But it was locked up in a safe, one that was so secure that even a locksmith couldn't get it open. He wanted to make a safe Nicole could never get into but he ended up leaving a safe behind that no one could get into. So they had to use his old will and Nicole ended up with fifty percent of his money."

"Lucky her." Sami commented, a tinge of envy in her voice. Nicole would probably never have to work again, while Sami was still stuck working at Basic Black and still barely making enough money. It would have been great to get even a small percentage of Victor Kiriakas' fortune.

"Not really." Brady's voice was bitter and angry, "She didn't deserve any money. I don't want to believe she had anything to do with my grandfather's murder but everything seems to point to her. She's the one who really benefited from this and she's not going through any pain at all."

"You really sound like you mean all that." Sami remarked, "How do you pull it off? The way you're talking, a stranger wouldn't even be able to guess that this is woman you've been lusting after for the past few months."

Brady glared at Sami, "I have not been lusting after Nicole. You're the one that's been drooling over Lucas so I wouldn't talk!"

Sami's mouth dropped open in shock, "I don't drool over Lucas Roberts! The very idea of drooling over that man is enough to make me throw up. I heard all about the half-naked bedroom games you were playing while you were handcuffed to Nicole, you....... hypocrite."

"You're getting awfully defensive." Brady noted with a little sneer, "Are you sure there's nothing going on between you and Lucas?"

"Of course I'm sure." Sami declared, tossing her hair over her shoulder, "I would never fall for Lucas. Ever. I mean, I'm not even slightly attracted to him and the idea of me ever wanting to be with him is insane."

She knew that she was a good liar. The only way anyone would be able to tell she was lying was by the way her heart was beating rapidly in her chest. But Brady couldn't see that so it was okay. She pushed all thoughts of camping trips, caves and 'snakes' out of her mind, wanting to be as convincing as possible.

"I bet you could fall for him." Brady predicted, "If you haven't already, I mean."

"I have not!" Sami screeched, then lowered her voice when one of the nearby waitresses turned to look at her, "I would die before falling in love with Lucas. I can prove it too."

"Really?" Brady raised his eyebrows, "Then why don't we make a little bet?"

"What kind of a bet?"

"You have to get Lucas to move into your apartment for," Brady thought about it for a moment, "Two months. That way, the bet will be over by, let's say, May 1st. If you can go two months living with the guy without falling for him, then I'll give you half of the money Victor left me."

"How much is that?" Sami inquired.

"Enough that you'll never have to work for my dad, Kate, or anyone else, ever again." Brady told her.

"How are you going to be able to tell if I've fallen in love with him or not?"

"It won't be hard. You're very transparent about those things, Sami."

"Really?" Sami almost laughed. Brady had no idea how good she had gotten at hiding her attraction to Lucas. So she could fake it. What was another two months? And after those two months, she would be rich, "It's a deal."

"I didn't even tell you what you have to do if you lose." Brady reminded her.

"Fine, what do I have to do if I lose?" Sami humoured him, taking a drink of her water. She knew that it didn't matter what he had planned for her if she lost because she was not going to lose.

"You have to marry me." Sami almost choked on the water. She slammed the glass down on the table and stared at him in horror.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't get so excited. It's not that I want to marry you but I think it's the only way I'll be able to get Nicole to stop bothering me." Brady explained, "Once I marry you, then she'll decide to go after someone else. And once she does, then we can divorce. But if we do get married, there will be a pre-nuptial agreement stating that I keep all of my money."

"Nicole went after you when she was married to Victor." Sami responded, still in shock over Brady's request, "What makes you think she'll leave you alone if you marry me?"

"It's completely different." Brady assured Sami, sounding incredibly confident, "We'll make her believe we're madly in love and eventually she will give up. Nicole doesn't have very much patience."

"Fine." Sami muttered, knowing she was going to do everything in her power to win this bet, "But what about Chloe? You're still dating that girl, aren't you?"

"Nope." Brady shook his head, "I broke up with her a few days ago. The strain of the long-distance relationship was really getting to me. I was sick of going long periods of time without getting any. That's probably why all Nicole had to do was come within two feet of me and I would end up getting........excited."

"That's a little too much information." Sami responded, a devious smile on her face, "And now that you've mentioned Nicole, I think you should be part of this bet too."

"What do you mean?" Brady asked suspiciously.

"You have to go the same period of time living in an apartment with Nicole without sleeping with her. If you haven't already, I mean." Sami mimicked his tone from earlier that afternoon.

"I can do that." Brady shot back easily, "How can I sleep with someone who is probably somewhat responsible for my grandfather's death?"

"How can you get excited over someone who your grandfather was married to?" Sami countered, momentarily silencing Brady, "So, if we both can go the two months without you sleeping with Nicole or me falling for Lucas, we call it even. But if we both end up losing, which won't happen because there's no way I can lose this bet, I marry you but when we divorce, I still get half of what Victor left you."

"Sounds good." Brady agreed, "But I think Nicole and I should be staying at an apartment near your apartment. So I can be there when you end up falling in love with Lucas." he finished quickly.

"We can work on that." Sami replied, extending her hand, "Do we have a deal, then?"

Brady nodded, his mouth set in a grim determined line. Not sleeping with Nicole wasn't going to be hard, he had been doing that for months. He just had to make sure Sami fell for Lucas, "Yes."

Belle chose that moment to hurry over and sit down at their table, "I am so sorry I'm late." she said breathlessly, "I was window shopping with Mimi and I got side-tracked. But that's okay because you two looked like you weren't that bored. What were you talking about anyway?"

"Nothing." Sami smiled innocently at her little sister, "Nothing at all."

She, Belle and Brady were soon engaged in conversation but Sami couldn't stop thinking about the bet she had made. Living with Lucas for two months without falling for him. Actually, she could fall for him, she just couldn't let anyone know she had fallen for him. And considering she already had this feeling that she was in love with Lucas, she knew that this might be a challenge. But Sami had always loved challenges.


	2. New Living Arrangements

Chapter Two

"You want them to what?" Lucas asked, positive he had heard her wrong. There was no way Sami would ask him to do this. It was Brady and Nicole for Christ's sake.

Sami turned away from him, "I want you to let them move into your apartment for two months." she murmured, looking up at Brady pleadingly.

"No way." Lucas clenched his jaw stubbornly, "I am not letting her live with me. I would go insane if I had to stay in that apartment with Nicole for two months."

"That wasn't what we were planning on doing." Brady spoke up, "While Nicole and I lived in your apartment, you would be living with Sami."

Lucas' forehead crinkled in confusion. Ever since they got back from the camping trip, Sami had been acting really distant and uncomfortable whenever she was around him. Then, the past two or three days she had acted like she had something important on her mind. And now she wanted him to move in with her. She was confusing the hell out of him lately. But if she wanted him to live with her, it had to mean something.

"Why?" Lucas asked, his dark eyes burning into Sami suspiciously.

"We're, um, doing an experiment." Brady answered. Sami almost cringed. An experiment? He couldn't have come up with a lamer explanation.

Nicole suddenly broke into the conversation, "I personally love experiments." she giggled and held on to Brady's arm, "I can't wait to see what experiments you have planned for me and you to do together, sugar."

"I am not your sugar." Brady pushed her away, making sure not to make eye contact with Sami. Nicole just laughed and grabbed onto his arm again, "I guess this is what I get when I take you somewhere after you've spent the entire morning next to the liquor cabinet." Brady grumbled.

Lucas looked horrified, "Hey, if you two want to do those things, you go right ahead. But you're not going to do them in my apartment!"

Sami quickly jumped in, "Not those kind of experiments. We can't really explain what kind of experiment but I'm sure they'll be on their best behaviour. I know Brady will do his best." Sami arched on eyebrow suggestively at Brady. She and Brady had agreed that Lucas and Nicole were never going to find out about the bet and if either she or Brady slipped and told one of them, they would automatically lose the bet.

Lucas sighed. He could handle the moving in with Sami part, in fact, that wouldn't bother him at all. It was the idea of letting Nicole and Brady live in his apartment. He looked over at Sami, whose eyes were pleading with him to agree to the proposal.

He started a little bit when he felt her fingers slip underneath his shirt from behind and slowly slide up his back. They were facing Brady and Nicole so Brady couldn't see what was going on so Sami continued running her fingers up his back. He barely resisted shuddering as she leaned closer to him.

"For me?" she whispered in his ear, sensing that she had won. She knew Lucas well enough to know he was going to give in.

"Okay." Lucas managed to say in an almost normal tone. Brady watched the exchange with interest. Sami saw the look on Brady's face and casually took her hand out from under Lucas' shirt, letting it rest at her side. Brady stared at Sami for a few moments, then seemed to shrug off Lucas' quick change of heart and turned back to Nicole.

"Great, I guess we should go get our things." Brady took Nicole by the arm and steered her out of Sami's apartment, leaving Lucas and Sami alone in the apartment. Lucas turned to Sami, looking almost amused now.

"Is this another one of your schemes, Sami?" he asked, "If you really wanted me to move in with you, you could have tried asking first."

Sami felt her face heating up at his words, "That is not what this is about at all. You're crazy to even suggest that. I don't even like you. You're conceited and you're irritating-"

"You don't seem to mind any of that when I kiss you." Lucas cut her off, smiling smugly at her, "I think you like me a lot more than you're letting on. That's why you want to move in with me. So you can try and seduce me."

"That is disgusting." Sami replied, her anger increasing, "You think you're so irresistible that every woman in the world wants you and you are so wrong."

"Not every woman. Just the smart ones." Lucas shot back. He fell into silence and cocked his head to one side, watching Sami attentively. His gaze was so calculating and so prolonged that Sami stopped being angry and ended up feeling very uncomfortable.

"What?" Sami finally demanded, shifting uneasily.

"Are you sure you don't want me?" he asked, running his tongue over his lower lip insinuatingly, "Because if do you, it's okay, I promise."

"I'm positive." Sami responded hastily. Too hastily. Like she had something to hide. But it wasn't her fault, Lucas was making her awkward with his little lip movements and piercing stare. She hoped he wasn't going to act like this for the entire two months because if he did, her chances of winning the bet would become even slimmer.

Lucas almost laughed at her evident discomfort. He knew it wasn't very nice to play mind games with her but she had it coming. He really hadn't wanted to let Brady and Nicole stay at his apartment and hadn't been planning on letting them. Then Sami had to go and do that thing with her hand on his back. He was aware of his feelings for Sami and hated how she could probably get him to do anything if she tried hard enough.

"I take it you're not going to tell me what is going on with this whole thing you and Brady are doing then." Lucas said in a more neutral tone.

Sami sighed with relief, glad he had dropped the question of whether or not she wanted him, "No, I'm not. But it is not because I want you." she added.

"Okay." Lucas accepted her answer, at least for the time being, "Do you want to come over to my apartment and help me get my stuff?" he asked her. She nodded, suddenly aware of how close they were standing and eager to have an excuse to move away from him.

The two of them went across the hall and into Lucas' apartment. Sami followed Lucas into his bedroom, where Lucas was already tearing his blankets and sheets off his head.

"What are you doing?" Sami asked him as he wadded all of his sheets into a ball and tossed them over to Sami.

"If Brady and Nicole are going to end up doing things in my apartment, I don't want it done on my sheets." Lucas explained, "It's bad enough they're probably going to start doing things on my mattress."

Sami laughed, "You could always take that too." she suggested.

Lucas grinned at Sami, "You have a point. I think I will take the mattress."

Lucas picked up the mattress and the two of them left Lucas' apartment just as Brady and Nicole were returning with their suitcases. Brady noticed Sami and Lucas carrying out Lucas' entire bed and frowned.

"What the hell?" Brady said as Nicole tripped over Brady's suitcase and fell into his arms. She was obviously still pretty drunk.

Sami smiled knowingly at her step-brother, "Lucas wants you to find your own bed to bang Nicole on." she stated, "We all know it's going to happen. You can't control yourself."

"I'm a lot better at controlling myself than you are and you know it!" Brady glared at Sami.

"We'll see about that!" Sami retorted, storming back into her own apartment and Brady grabbed his suitcase and rushed into Lucas' apartment without another word, leaving Lucas and Nicole staring after them.


	3. Ripped Towels

Chapter Three

Sami stood outside the bathroom door, her arms crossed over her chest impatiently as she waited for Lucas to get out of the shower. It had been already been a week since Brady and Nicole had moved into Lucas' apartment. Will had moved into Kate's apartment because Brady had told Sami it was absolutely necessary for Will not to be around while the bet was on. He figured that might give Sami an unfair advantage.

"God, he is such a girl." Sami muttered to herself, "How long does a guy have to take in the shower anyway?"

A few minutes later, the door to the bathroom opened and Lucas stepped out into the kitchen. Sami tried to glare at him but her dark gaze faltered when she saw what he was wearing. Actually, it was more like what he was not wearing. That towel. That God damn towel slung around his tips, the knot in the side ready to slip out at any minute. Sami had thought the nightmare of the towel was finally over but no, she had to go through it all over again. Usually he changed in the bathroom so she didn't have to deal with the towel but today was different.

"It took you long enough." Sami snapped, trying to keep her eyes on his face and not let them trail down his chest to the scrap of cloth barely covering him, "And what did I tell you about running around in your underwear? You know I don't like that."

Lucas looked down, as if he had just become aware of his scantily clad figure, "I was only in there ten minutes." he argued, "And this is not my underwear."

"No, it's worse." Sami replied, wishing that little strip of white fluffy material didn't bother her so much. But it did bother her, in the worst way possible. If she was going to win this bet, Lucas could not walk around in that towel. Or his underwear, "Why don't you go put some clothes on and spare me the torture of having to look at you in that disgusting state of undress?"

He shot her a dirty look, "I was going to go get dressed. But I left some of my clothes at my apartment and I need to go get them."

"Well, go then." Sami followed him over to the door, "And change over there because I don't want to see you in that anymore. Go inflict pain on Brady and Nicole now. I've already had to look at you in that, now it's their turn."

"Do you really mean that?" Lucas gave her a mock-hurt look, "What happened to you gushing over my six pack abs and rippling biceps?"

Sami rolled her eyes, "I never gushed over you." she pushed him over to the door, "Now, go get dressed."

Lucas stepped outside the door and Sami shut the door behind him. Unfortunately for Lucas, Sami shut the door a little too quickly and part of Lucas' towel got stuck in the door. Sami noticed the little piece of cloth stuck in the crack of the door and heard the ripping sound outside the door. Unable to stop herself, she opened the door a tiny bit and yanked the towel into the apartment. She shut the door and locked it behind her, leaving Lucas outside the apartment without a stitch of clothing on.

Lucas stood there in horror as he heard the door lock. She stole his towel, the little wench. He began knocking on the door loudly.

"Sami, this is not funny!" he almost shouted, praying no one would come out of their apartments and see him, "Open the door right now!"

He heard Sami on the other side of the door, "That's what you get for walking around in a towel." she told him. He knocked even louder on the door but Sami would not open the door. He stopped knocking long enough to look down the hallway to see if anyone had spotted him yet. Not yet. Suddenly he heard Sami giggling hysterically on the other side of the door.

"Sami, are you laughing at me? Do you really think this is funny? Dammit, please just open the door! I'm sorry, I'll never walk around in a towel ever again, just don't leave me out here."

When he realized she wasn't going to open the door, Lucas went across the hall and decided to try to get into his own apartment. If it was unlocked, he could try to grab some clothes without Brady or Nicole seeing him. It was better than standing outside and having to depend on Sami to let him back inside. But the door was locked.

He began knocking on his own apartment door, "Brady? Nicole? I need in right now."

"We're busy." Nicole yelled, "Come back later." she lowered her voice but Lucas could still make out what she was saying, "No, Brady, I don't want to play that one. Let's play this game instead. Jan says this game is great. She made her and Shawn on The Sims and then she made them fall in love and make babies."

Lucas grimaced when he realized what they were doing and pounded on the door, "Can you pull yourself away from Will's computer games for one second to let me in? And don't you have anything better to do than sit around playing those games?"

"Nope." Nicole called cheerfully, "And no, we can't pull ourselves away. You'll just have to wait until we're good and ready to let you in."

Lucas gave up on Brady and Nicole and went back to pounding on Sami's door. Sami sat near the door, trying to decide how long she should leave him out there. Maybe she should wait until someone called the cops on him for indecent exposure. But for indecent exposure, she had a feeling it would be very..... decent. The idea that Lucas was standing outside, with absolutely nothing on was making her very fidgety. But not because the idea of seeing him naked turned her on or anything. No, she just thought it was hilarious that he was stuck out there.

Lucas pounded on the door even harder, kicking it with his foot a couple times for good measure, "I am going to kill you if you don't let me in right now!"

A door a little ways down the hall opened and two girls stepped out into the hall. They looked like were about fifteen or sixteen and were wearing matching scowls on their faces.

"Do you mind? Some people actually enjoy peace and quiet." the first girl said, her eyes flashing indignantly. She didn't seem to comprehend the fact that Lucas was stark naked until a few seconds after the sentence came out of her mouth. Lucas stepped behind a large plant so that the two girls couldn't see him. The second girl, the one that hadn't spoke yet, just gaped at him.

He managed a weak smile, "Sorry about that. It's just that this........ person pushed me out of her apartment and stole my towel. I'll be quiet from now on."

"I hope so." the first girl rolled her eyes, "Everyone on this floor is so noisy. Maybe we should do our homework at your house next time, Kylie."

Kylie nodded, not taking her eyes off Lucas, "Maybe. Um, do you want us to go find you something to cover-up with?" she asked him. Lucas smiled gratefully.

"That would be a big help." he told her.

"Okay." Kylie turned to her friend, "Come on, Amy, let's go find him something to wear." as soon as they were out of earshot of Lucas, Kyle whispered to Amy, "Wow, if my creepy stalker ex-boyfriend could look that good without any clothes on, maybe I wouldn't mind him stalking me so much."

Sami fumed inwardly after hearing Lucas' conversation with those two girls. How dare they ruin her fun. Now he wasn't going to be stuck outside her apartment naked anymore. But the girls hadn't returned yet. A very unclothed Lucas is still standing outside my door, Sami thought to herself, Talk about eye candy. Eye candy? She was really losing it. She had to put a stop to these thoughts and the only way she could do that was by giving him his towel back and letting him back inside her apartment. Besides, she didn't want anyone trying to steal her eye candy. Dammit, why did she keep thinking of Lucas as eye candy? Reluctantly she got up and went over to the door. She opened it a tiny bit and shoved the towel through the opening, not looking at Lucas. I don't want to look, she told herself stubbornly, I really don't.

Lucas had the towel back in place when he re-entered the apartment. He glowered at Sami, the fury in his eyes so intense that Sami backed away from him, into the kitchen.

"That was a terrible thing to do, Sami." he said in a low voice, "Now I need to make you pay."

"H-how?" she stammered, backing up until the backs of her thighs were pressed against the counter. Lucas continued advancing on her, then stopped.

"I haven't decided yet." he replied, scratching the back of his neck and suddenly grinning at up her, "Why did you do that, Sami?"

"Do what?" she squeaked out as he took another step towards her.

"Steal my towel? Did you really want to get it away from me that badly?" Lucas asked, smirking at her.

"No." she whispered.

"I think you're lying. I think you wanted to see. Because you know you'd like it." Lucas mocked her, standing so close to her she was leaning backwards over the counter to put some distance between them.

"You conceited bastard! Why would I want to see you without a towel when you're so......" her voice trailed off as colourful adjectives filled her mind. Perfect. Gorgeous. Edible. They were adjectives and they were pretty accurate but she wasn't going to use any of those out loud. Although a part of her wondered how Lucas would react if she did.

"Annoying." she finished, dropping her eyes to the floor.

"That's why you're getting so freaked out." Lucas went on, "Because you know you'd like it and you don't know how to handle that. Right?"

"I think that's just what you're going to keep telling yourself so that you can have the illusion that someone actually wants you." Sami muttered.

Lucas moved about an inch closer, "You can take it off if you want."

Sami's eyes widened as she pulled her head up to look at him, "What did you just say?"

Lucas looked down at the little white towel, "Go ahead. Pull the towel off. You know you want to."

"You're crazy." she said, feeling her face heat up. Her fingers were gripping the counter behind her so tightly, it was probably branding her skin but she couldn't let go. If she did, she might do something she'd regret. Like punch Lucas in the face. Or maybe she wouldn't be able to resist pulling that towel off of him like he had given her permission to do.

"Come on, Sami. I dare you." the infuriating smirk didn't leave his face. Sami could tell he knew how much his words were affecting her. She gripped the counter even tighter to keep her hands from shaking. She could smell his aftershave, he was so close. Everything in the apartment was so quiet she could hear Lucas' soft breathing and the rapidly pulsating beat of her heart.

"What's the matter? Are you scared?" he asked her. Sami opened her mouth to protest, then closed it. She wasn't scared, she just didn't want to meet Little Lucas so abruptly. She still couldn't believe Lucas was asking her to rip his towel off. He was still smirking at her and finally realization struck for Sami. Lucas might not even want her to do it, he just knew her too well. He knew she wouldn't do it. Or at least, he thought he knew she wouldn't do it. And that irritate her. She could do it. She could kiss him too, she could kiss him without getting hot and bothered.

Before Lucas could say another word, their lips were joined. Sami was kissing him. He shut his eyes, concentrating on how good that pair of lush, sweet lips felt against his own. Sami's tongue slipped into his mouth as her hands inched down his chest slowly and deliberately. It felt like an electrical current was flowing through him as Sami circled his own tongue with hers. He suddenly felt cold air hit newly uncovered areas of his body and he was vaguely aware of the sound of the towel dropping to the floor softly. Oh my God, I can't believe she actually did that, Lucas thought, stifling a groan as her hands moved back up to the top of his chest, then began making their way lower once again. She was such a tease. But that didn't matter as long as in the end she- 

A knock at the door startled Sami and Lucas, "Sami?" Brady's voice filtered through the door, "I need to talk to you about something."

The ecstasy Sami had been feeling from the kiss she and Lucas had been sharing quickly dissipated, replaced by a feeling of panic instead. Lucas was staring at her with a slightly dazed expression on his face, his lips glistening with moisture from the kiss the two of them had just exchanged. She snatched the towel off the floor and handed it to him, then pushed him into the bathroom.

"Stay in there." she ordered him, then pressed a hand to her cheek. It was unusually warm. She hoped Brady wouldn't think anything of it when she opened the door. She smoothed her hair back in place as she rushed over to meet Brady. She didn't know whether to be angry or grateful for the interruption. She had only kissed Lucas to prove him wrong, to wipe that annoying little smirk off his face. But then she had kissed him and she hadn't been able to stop herself from feeling the overwhelming physical need created by the feeling of Lucas' ravenous mouth and hands touching her. Bad sign. Maybe it really was impossible to kiss Lucas without getting all hot and bothered. She could still taste his mint-flavoured mouthwash in her mouth. And she didn't mind a bit. Another very bad sign. She had to stop thinking about Lucas in that way or she would have to marry Brady. There was no way in hell she was going to let that happen.


	4. Kate Finds Out

Chapter Four

The smell of car gasoline mingled with Nicole's perfume and wafted up to Brady's nose. He narrowed his eyes underneath the visor of his helmet. The black race car was about ten feet ahead of them. He couldn't let them win.

Nicole was sitting as close to him as possible, not wearing a helmet or a seatbelt. Instead, she was wearing the shortest mini-skirt Brady had ever seen. And she was sitting so close to him that the stick shift was right between her legs. Her thigh was bumping against his as they tore around the race track, not yet closing the distance between themselves and the black car.

Brady reached down and put the car into second gear, brining the stick shift back. Nicole didn't make a move to get her legs out of the way as Brady brought the car into third gear, not even when he brought it back into fourth. He caught up to the black car and looked through the other driver's open window. Lucas was at the wheel of the car and Sami was sitting next to him.

Sami yelled something to him that he couldn't make out. But he had a feeling it wasn't very nice, judging from the look Sami had given him as she spoke. Brady gritted his teeth and grabbed the stick shift again, pushing the car into fifth gear and pulling ahead of Sami and Lucas. His hand was underneath Nicole's short skirt now. And as soon as he brought the car into sixth gear, his hand would be-

A knock at the apartment's front door caused Brady to bolt awake. He heard footsteps outside the bedroom and heard the front door open. Two people began speaking in soft murmurs in the other room. Nicole was already awake. He groaned and rolled over, remembering his dream. It hadn't been a bad dream, just not the kind of thing he usually dreamed about. Well, he dreamed about Nicole often enough but not about race cars and stick shifts.

"That's what I get for playing race car games with Nicole before bed." he mumbled, pulling himself out of the bed. He and Nicole had spent a lot of the previous day playing computer and video games. He knew Nicole was doing everything she could to take his mind off Victor's death and he thought that was nice of her, even if she was trying to distract him for her own personal reasons.

Brady heard a high-pitched angry voice in the other room, one he recognized as Kate Roberts.

"There is no way my son would do that with you." Kate was saying as Brady pulled on a pair of jeans over his boxers, "I've raised him better than that! I mean, there are hookers on the streets of downtown Salem that have more class than you do."

Nicole sounded upset, "I can't believe he didn't tell you about us yet. But it's true. Lucas and I- we're tight. Like spandex."

Kate made a noise similar to one a disgruntled crow would make, "No!" she started yelling into the apartment, "How could you do this to me, Lucas? I thought I raised you better."

"You didn't seem to mind pairing us up before." Nicole reminded Kate, "I'm just sorry that it took Lucas and I so long to realize that we were meant to be together. So much time wasted-" Nicole cut herself off and Brady frowned. Was she crying? And why was she saying all these things about herself and Lucas? They weren't together.

Brady made it into the room at the same time Sami and Lucas came rushing over to the door, "We heard you shouting, what's going on?" Lucas was only wearing his boxers and Sami was in a nightgown almost as short and skimpy as Nicole's.

Kate whirled around and gasped, "Lucas, I demand an explanation for all this." her hands gestured in Nicole's general direction, then Sami's, then Brady's.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot to tell you that-" Lucas started to say.

"Forgot?" Nicole repeated angrily, "How could you forget something so important, Lucas? Or maybe you're just trying to make us all believe you forgot. Are you ashamed of me or something? God, I don't know if I would be able to take that."

"What?" the confused look on his face was enough to make Nicole burst out laughing, not to mention the appalled look on Kate's face and the somewhat confused and very envious look on Sami's face. Messing with their heads was so much fun.

Nicole sashayed over to Lucas and flung her arms around his shoulders dramatically, "Go on, Lucas. Tell them what we were doing in your apartment last night. Before you snuck off to Sami's apartment again! I swear, if I catch you sneaking off to her apartment ever again, it's going to be the last straw. I'll have to end our wonderful relationship."

Lucas wrinkled his nose in disgust, "Are you on drugs or something? Don't worry, you'll get the help you need eventually. I hope."

Nicole slapped him across the face angrily, "I can't believe you're treating me like this. Well, fine, then I'll let you explain what Brady is doing in your apartment and why he spent the night here."

"Oh my God." Kate pinched the bridge of her nose like she had a migraine, "Lucas, please tell me that you weren't doing what I think you were doing."

Lucas looked even more sickened as he looked from Brady to Nicole, "With them? No way, I thought you knew me better than that."

Nicole couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. And the looks on your faces-" she dissolved into helpless giggles again when she remembered the look Kate had given her when she had opened the door to Lucas' apartment.

"Can you please tell me what is going on then?" Kate demanded, glaring at Nicole.

"What I was trying to say before is that Brady and Nicole are living in my apartment for a couple of months and I'm living in Sami's apartment." Lucas finished.

Kate stared at him for a few seconds, "You have got to be joking! Why?"

Lucas shrugged, "You'll have to ask Brady and Sami that question. They said something about an experiment."

"And that's supposed to make me feel a whole lot better?" Kate said sarcastically, turning to Sami, "What are you trying to do? I am not going to let you ruin my son's life."

"I'm not going to. If anything, it's going to be the other way around." Sami thought about the kiss that had been interrupted by Brady the previous day. Yes, if Lucas didn't stop being so God damn tempting, she was going to lose this bet.

"What do you mean by experiment then?" Kate inquired.

"Maybe it's a test to see how much torture I can withstand. Living with your son is no picnic."

"You sure didn't seem to mind sharing your apartment with me yesterday when we were-"

"Shut up!" Sami cut in sharply, giving Lucas a dirty look. Brady's eyes glittered triumphantly, as if he could tell something was going on between Sami and Lucas. Something that would make him the winner of the bet.

"I don't like this." Kate shook her head and latched onto Lucas' arm, "Please, Lucas, kick Brady and Nicole out of your apartment and get away from that bitch."

"You know, a bitch is not only a female dog but it can also be a female fox or a female wolf." Brady informed Kate, grinning at Sami, "But no matter what way you look at it, I'm sure Sami bites."

"Only people I don't like." Sami responded, looking pointedly at Brady, "Besides, it's not like we're sharing the same bed or anything. Lucas sleeps on his mattress in the living room."

"I don't care. You could sneak out of your bed in the middle of the night and poison him or something. Lucas, living with her is dangerous." Kate tried to tell him.

"I would never hurt Lucas intentionally." Sami protested, "I care about-" seeing Brady's expression, she quickly stopped herself from saying what she had been planning on saying, "I care about my son and I know he would be devastated if anything happened to Lucas."

"Like anyone is really going to believe that." Kate spat out hatefully.

"I believe her." Lucas said, placing his hand on Sami's shoulder, "The two of us have been sort of working things out and I know I'd never want to hurt her ever again."

He was addressing his mother but he almost forgot his mother was in the room when his eyes made contact with Sami's. Her baby blue eyes had darkened turbulently, like she was trying to deal with conflicting emotions. She got that look a lot lately, like she didn't know how to act around him. Like the day before when he had dared her to take off his towel. Still, the way she was looking at him made him think that she was also close to forgetting there were three other people in the room.

Nicole's scornful voice broke the uncomfortable silence, "Isn't that just the sweetest thing you've ever seen?" she asked mockingly, looking over at Kate's repulsed face.

"It is." Brady agreed, his tone matching Nicole's, "They look so...... in love." he finished, grinning at Sami knowingly. Sami squirmed away from Lucas, letting the hand that was holding her shoulder fall back to Lucas' side.

"Never." she hissed furiously, "You are so stupid it's pathetic. Lucas and I are civil to each other for our son's sake. That's all."

Sure, if being civil to each other includes ramming your tongues down each other's throats and undressing each other, Lucas thought to himself. He didn't know why Sami was so hardheaded about pretending she didn't have feelings for him. He was almost positive she did. The only logical explanation he could come up with was that she was scared. Unless there was something else going on in her life that he didn't know about.


	5. Driving Her Crazy

Chapter Five

Nicole stirred the batter furiously. Brady had been stirring before her and had gotten the batter all over the handle of the spoon and all she wanted to do was drop the spoon and go wash her hands. She didn't want to help make this stupid cake anymore. She didn't care if it was the anniversary of the first time Shawn had taken Belle to the movies, she didn't even like Belle. But Belle had called Brady earlier and Brady had heard how upset she was and wanted to do something to cheer her up. And helping Brady make the cake would get her on Brady's good side.

"I don't know why Brady and I have to finish the batter while you two get to play around with the icing." Nicole complained, shooting a dark glance in Sami and Lucas' direction. Sami had came over to help make the cake for Belle and Lucas had come too.

"Because it's still my apartment and Sami and I already did most of the work because you and Brady were too dumb to do it." Lucas reminded her as he squeezed the icing into the icing bag. He had went over to his grandmother's house earlier to get a cake-decorating kit from her and he and Sami were making sure everything would be ready to go when the cake came out of the oven.

Nicole rolled her eyes, "I didn't have to help. I did it out of the goodness of my heart."

"What heart?" Sami snickered, filling her own icing bag full of fluffy, pink icing. Sami knew Belle was going to love this cake, even if she was going to be the only one eating it. Sami didn't know anyone else that actually liked blackforest cake but it was Belle's favourite.

"I wouldn't talk." Nicole shot back, flinging a plastic, batter-covered spoon at Sami. Sami dodged the spoon and it flew onto the counter a few feet away from her. She snatched the spoon off the counter and threw it back at Nicole. It missed and Brady dropped the spoon into the sink before Nicole and Sami could do anymore damage with it.

Lucas lost his concentration and he automatically continued filling icing bags full of icing as he thought about his current closeness to Sami. She looked so cute, even though it was obvious how annoyed she was getting with Nicole. She was squeezing the icing bag a little harder than she needed to, gripping it firmly with both hands. Actually, he wouldn't mind being squeezed like that by her. He quickly suppressed the thoughts, fumbling with the icing bag nervously. How could he turn something as innocent as getting ready to decorate a cake into something sexual? It was just the effect Sami had on him, he decided.

Lucas reached over to grab something from across the counter and accidentally elbowed Sami in the process. This caused her to squeeze the icing bag a little bit tighter, causing icing to squirt out of the icing bag and onto her face. She let out a howl of pain.

"My eye!" she wailed, dropping the icing bag, "You made me squirt myself in the eye, you moron!"

Lucas was immediately concerned, "Here, let me see." he examined her eye and once he realized she was okay, he smirked at her, "I think you're going to live, Sami."

Sami glared at him, "So will you." she growled, picking up her icing bag and squeezing it. Icing spurted out of the tip of the icing bag and hit Lucas in the face. He stared at Sam in shock for a moment, then raised his own icing bag and began squirting her with it was well. Brady and Nicole watched as they covered each other's faces and aprons in sticky icing.

"All right, that's enough." Brady finally intervened, "Can't you two act your age for once? What a waste of perfectly good icing."

"You bought enough icing to cover ten cakes, Brady, stop whining." Sami responded, looking up at Lucas. Pink icing was all over his face, even sticking to his eyelashes.

"God, you look funny." she giggled as Lucas wiped his eyes clean of icing.

"You look even funnier." Lucas told her, "Too bad I didn't get any in your hair."

"You better not have." Sami warned, reaching up to touch the top of her head. It didn't feel like there was any icing in her hair but she would have to check in a mirror to make sure there wasn't.

"Come on, let's go wash this stuff off." Lucas said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the bathroom, leaving Brady and Nicole alone in the kitchen.

Nicole smiled devilishly, "What do you think Kate would do if I called her and told her that Lucas was squirting Sami with his icing?"

"You wouldn't." Brady looked mortified at the idea.

"Oh, yes I would." Nicole's smile widened, "But I'd have to be sure to mention that they were baking a cake before he started squirting her."

"I think I'm going to hurl." Brady moaned, "I really don't want to think about that."

"I'm going to call Kate right now." Nicole added, reaching towards the other counter, trying to grab the phone. Brady moved ahead of her but before he could get to the phone, he slipped on the floor and had to grab the corner of the counter to keep his balance.

"Gross, Sami and Lucas got icing all over the floor." Nicole started laughing after he said that, drawing forth a grimace from Brady, "Why must you twist my words? I'm serious. There's pink and green icing all over the floor. And I stepped in it." he yanked off his sock and left the kitchen, "I have to go throw my socks in with my dirty laundry." he called back to her.

Nicole sighed and looked down at the icing on the floor. Not wanting to end up stepping in it herself, she grabbed a rag and wiped it off the floor.

Sami wiped off one final clump of icing off her forehead, "There." she threw the damp paper towel in the trash can. She turned to Lucas, who had also finished wiping the icing off of his face. The two of them had also done a half-hearted job of wiping off their aprons but those could go in the washing machine so it didn't matter. Lucas looked at her face and grabbed another paper towel.

"You missed a spot." he told her, gently wiping away the last bit of icing left over from their fight. He let the paper towel fall into the trash without taking his eyes off her. And he had that look in his eyes. Sami had seen that look before and she knew what was coming. Unable to fight off the mixture of growing panic and excitement flowing through her veins, she tried to shake her head emphatically but she was almost unable to make any movement with her head at all. She felt like she was frozen.

"Lucas, don't." she whispered as he lowered his head to meet her upturned face. But she said it so softly that he didn't even hear her. Then he was kissing her again. His lips was so gentle and teasing against her mouth and if it hadn't been for Brady and their bet, she probably would have ended up getting lost in that perfect kiss.

But Brady was in the apartment at that moment and he might even be watching her. Abruptly she shoved Lucas away from her so hard he almost hit the wall behind him. Before she even realized what she was doing, she slammed her fist into the side of his face, not hard enough to hurt, just hard enough to stun him.

Without staying in the bathroom for a second longer, she spun around and shot out of the room. She went back into the kitchen, her breaths coming out low and ragged. She couldn't believe she had just hit Lucas. What was she thinking? This bet was driving her crazy. She wasn't thinking straight and all she wanted to do was do everything in her power to make it look like she didn't have feelings for Lucas. She looked over towards the bathroom door. Lucas still hadn't come out. She wanted to apologize but she didn't know how she was going to be able to speak to him again after what had just taken place.

Lucas brought one hand up to his cheek where Sami had punched him. She hadn't hit him hard enough to break anything or to really hurt him physically. But then there was that outright rejection and that hurt like hell. He had thought Sami had wanted to be with him as badly as he wanted to be with her after everything that had happened in that past few weeks. Then she just kept mixing up her signals and he didn't know how to act around her. But he had believed if he kissed her, she wouldn't protest.

His hand dropped from his face and he scowled at his reflection in that mirror, "Well, that sucked." he muttered to himself before leaving the bathroom. When he returned to the kitchen, Brady, Nicole and Sami were all talking as the cake sat in the oven.

"Blackforest cake is the most disgusting kind of cake I have ever eaten." Brady was saying when Lucas came up to stand beside Sami, who kept her eyes trained on Brady. She seemed too embarrassed to make eye contact with Lucas, "The only ones who like it are Belle and my dad."

Nicole frowned at the mention of John Black, "Your dad is a creep. He thinks I'm the killer and he really doesn't approve of our friendship. I wish he wouldn't always act like such a prick."

Sami couldn't resist jumping in with her opinion, "John is a prick. And he destroys wonderful marriages and happy families. I wish I had never met him."

Brady was shooting daggers at both Nicole and Sami. Then, without realizing the impact of his words and without realizing whether he was directing the words at Sami, Nicole or both of them, he said, "At least my dad is alive."

Sami's jaw dropped at Brady's response. She covered her mouth with her hand and bolted for the apartment door, leaving the apartment Brady was staying in and slamming the door behind her.

The enormity of what he had just said finally sunk in and Brady groaned, "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant....." he stopped speaking when he noticed the way Lucas and Nicole were looking at him.

Nicole was shaking her head in disgust, "You're really in a sensitive mood tonight, aren't you Brady?"

As for Lucas.... if looks could kill, Brady knew he would be writhing around on the floor at that moment, "You are such an asshole." Lucas snarled savagely before storming out of the apartment to go find Sami.


	6. I Could Fall In Love With You

Chapter Six

Lucas opened the door to Sami's apartment to find Sami curled up on the corner of the couch. She was hugging her knees to her chest and her face was buried in her arms but he could still hear her sobbing. Tentatively, he stepped towards her, not sure if she wanted him to be there or not. If her punching him less than ten minutes ago was any indication, then she didn't. But he couldn't walk away from her and leave her alone when she was hurting like this. He sat down next to her on the couch and Sami raised her head to look at him. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Lucas couldn't believe Brady could say something so horrible. He knew what Sami had went through when she lost her father. She didn't need people saying things like that.

"It's okay, baby." he whispered, cautiously reaching out to stroke her hair. When she didn't pull away or try to hit him, he pulled her into his arms, "He's a heartless bastard, don't worry about what he said. Just say the word and I'll make him sorry."

Sami curled up against Lucas' body and allowed her tears to spill onto Lucas shirt, the heat of his body mingling with her own and comforting her, "No, don't bother. I'll be fine, really. I just miss my dad so much. I try not to think about it because it hurts so much to remember how he died without knowing I loved him. All Brady did when he said what he did was remind me of how long I'm going to have to live without my dad. He's gone forever and he's never coming back."

Lucas cradled her body in his arms as she shook with heartbroken sobs, "I'm sorry. I wish there was something else I could do to make you feel better."

"You're doing enough just by being here. Lucas, I can't lose any more of the people I care about. I wouldn't be able to go on if-" she broke off a shudder wracked her body, as if she was imagining the idea of losing any more of the people in her life. She bunched up the material of his shirt in her hands and nestled her head into his chest. Lucas used one hand to stroke her back while the other framed her face, wiping away her tears with the pad of his thumb.

Sami sniffled, "You're being so nice to me and I just punched you. Why do you put up with me?"

Lucas was startled by the sudden question, "I want you to be happy. I care about you, Sami. A lot more than you'll probably ever know."

"Lucas, about hitting you when we were in the bathroom, I'm s-" the doorknob to the apartment twisted around. Sami's eyes widened with alarm as she remembered Brady. Impulsively, she jumped off Lucas' lap and crawled over the side of the couch. She landed on the floor behind the couch on her wrist. Sami cringed as she took the pressure off her wrist and sat up, rubbing her wrist and muttering obscenities under her breath. Brady walked through the door of the apartment without knocking to see Lucas sitting on the couch with his forehead crinkling in confusion.

Sami stood up and faced Brady, still holding her wrist. Brady shifted awkwardly under the dark looks of both Lucas and Sami.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean to upset you." Brady said, avoiding Sami and Lucas' eyes.

Lucas snorted, "Then what were you trying to do?"

"I wasn't talking to you." Brady snapped, turning back to Sami, "So, are you going to come back and help Nicole and I decorate the cake?"

Sami looked at him like he was crazy, "No."

Brady frowned, "Why not? I already apologized and if you don't come back, me and Nicole will have to ice the cake by ourselves and we aren't as good at icing cakes as you are." Brady added the last bit to try and help convince her to change her mind.

"You and Nicole can do whatever you want with the cake, I don't care anymore. Besides, after you finish with the cake, I'm sure you and Nicole will find other ways to occupy yourselves." Sami retorted.

Brady missed the hidden meaning in her words, "It's getting kind of late, so we'll probably just go to bed after we finish."

"Whatever creams your twinkie." Lucas smirked at her response, watching as Brady stared at her in horror, "Look, if I throw a stick, will you go away?"

"Are you implying that I'm a dog?" Brady asked angrily.

"You look like one." Sami shot back, "Now get out of my apartment and go back to Nicole. I think she's the only one who's actually tolerating you right now."

Brady glowered at Sami before turning and leaving the apartment. Lucas turned to smile at Sami, glad that she had stopped crying, "Whatever creams your twinkie? Where did that come from?"

Sami smiled back at him, "I couldn't resist."

"Why did you jump off the couch?" Lucas asked her, remembering her abrupt behaviour before Brady's entrance. Sami's smile faded and she shifted uncomfortably.

"Because I felt like it." she said weakly, even though she knew Lucas would be able to tell there was more to it than that.

Lucas wanted to dig deeper into the subject but decided not to push her anymore for the remainder of the night. Brady had already put her through enough torture, "Okay. Hey, since we aren't going to finish making the cake with Brady and Nicole, why don't we make our own cake? We can make any kind of cake you want."

Sami's smile returned as she wiped off the remains of her tears from her cheeks, "With homemade icing?" she asked, then blushed when she realized what she had said. Damn, I have such a dirty mind, she thought to herself, her face heating up even more with embarrassment. But she wasn't the only one. She didn't miss the look on Lucas' face after she said that.

"Sure." Lucas managed to croak, then headed towards the kitchen. Sami followed him, relieved he hadn't pushed her into saying anything more about jumping off the back of the couch.

Several hours later, Lucas watched Sami crawl underneath the blankets on her bed. Lucas told her good-night and turned to leave the bedroom.

"Lucas, wait." Lucas looked at her expectantly. Sami looked almost scared as she sat up in the bed and cleared her throat nervously, "I was just wondering if you would..... stay in here tonight."

Lucas had not been expecting that. She really couldn't make up her mind tonight. First, she acted like she didn't want him anywhere near her and then she acted like she didn't want him to leave her side. He decided she had only changed moods so fast because Brady had upset her so much. Still, that didn't stop him from nodding and climbing into bed next to her.

Sami exhaled quietly, thankful he hadn't refused her. He stayed about two feet away from her after he got into the bed, like he was ever she would attack him if he got any closer. And after she had punched him in the bathroom, she couldn't blame him. So Sami was the one who moved over in the bed until she had filled in every millimetre of space between herself and Lucas, until her arms were wrapped around Lucas' body. She closed her eyes and let herself indulge in the warmth of being in Lucas' arms for a moment before speaking.

"Lucas?" she said softly, making sure he was still awake enough to hear her.

"Hm?" he mumbled, letting his arms envelop Sami in a protective embrace.

"I'm sorry I hit you earlier tonight." she said in a low voice, "I shouldn't have done that because I- I kind of liked it." Kind of? That was an understatement. Now that she had admitted that, she was willing to admit something else, "And remember in the cave? When I got my memory back and we were on the ground together without any clothes on, I didn't know what was going on but I still sort of liked that too."

Lucas was silent for a moment, "Then why did you hit me? Both times?"

"I think I have intimacy issues." Sami admitted, "But you know, if I ended up really falling for another guy, like really falling for them, I think-" she stopped herself, not sure if she really wanted to go this far, "Well, I mean, if things were different, I could fall in love with you. But I can't."

This next admission also momentarily stunned Lucas into silence, "Why not?"

"Because I just can't." Sami replied, "It's complicated and I can't really tell you anything else but the timing is just really off."

Lucas' confused frown was swallowed up by the darkness, "And that's all you're planning on telling me, isn't it?" he asked her, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. But it was hard. Having her tell him that she could fall in love with him, meaning she wasn't yet, when he was already in love with her was awful. Especially when she started going on about how the timing was wrong and how it was too complicated and how she couldn't fall in love with him.

"Right." Sami said, refusing to say anything more on the topic. She had already said too much but the words had just spilled out. And what did she mean she could fall in love with him? Why would she tell him that when she didn't even know if it was true or not? She was either on the verge of falling in love with him or she already was. If it wasn't for Brady and that God damn bet, she and Lucas might already be together. It wasn't very probable, considering how she kept pushing him away out of fear she was going to fail with him like she had with all the other men in her life but it could have happened. And now she would never know. But not wanting to think about it, she said good-night to Lucas and finally fell asleep.


	7. The Advice Guy

Chapter Seven

"So, what did you want to see me about?"

The sudden question caused Sami to bring her focus back into the present situation and out of her thoughts. She crossed and uncrossed her legs as she sat stiffly on the chair in her mother's office. Her utter confusion over her current feelings for Lucas was what had finally driven her to go to her mother for help. She had been sitting in the office for about five minutes and had still not gotten around to telling her mother about her problem. That was probably because Marlena seemed so distracted, rolling a letter opener around in her hands with a far-off look in her eyes.

"I need your help." Sami confessed, wishing she had found another way to solve her problem. Her pride was so important to her and she hated having to turn to her mother for assistance. It made her feel weak, especially when she knew all too well of the mistakes Marlena had made in her own love life.

Marlena arched one eyebrow curiously, "Go on."

Sami took a deep breath before continuing, "I have to make a decision about something and I don't know what to do. I have a lot to lose either way and I don't want to have to make this choice."

"What kind of choice?"

"I have to choose between someone I really care about and enough money to ensure that I never have to work again." Sami explained.

It had been several days since she had helped make the cake for Belle and with every passing day, Sami grew more torn between Lucas and the money she would receive if she won the bet. She was amazed at how sweet Lucas was still being to her. He was so patient, he was still putting up with her, for lack of a better way of describing it, screwed-upness. Without judging or condemning her, without constantly asking questions. He was incredible. And the more days that went by living with him, the more she wanted to drag him into her bedroom and have her wicked way with him. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair, to kiss him and feel his hands running all over her body. More importantly, she wanted to be able to tell him how she felt without holding back because of Brady and the horrible prospect of marrying him looming over her head.

"In what way do you care about this person? Do you love them?" Marlena inquired, tilting her head thoughtfully.

"I think so." Sami said quietly, looking at the floor.

"Then the answer is simple." Marlena replied, "Sweetie, there are lots of people in this world who have money and are very unhappy. To choose something like money over love...... well, it's really your decision to make but I think you know what the better choice would be."

"It's more complicated than that." Sami told her, "I could lose a lot more if I try and choose this person."

"I don't understand. What else could you lose by choosing this person over the money?" Marlena asked.

"I can't tell you any more." Sami said, remembering her promise to keep the bet a secret from everyone. All she knew was that if she did try and choose Lucas instead of sticking with the bet, she might lose both the money and Lucas. Especially if Brady wouldn't let it go, "I just need some advice."

Marlena shook her head sadly, "I can't really help you, especially when you know so much more about the circumstances than I do. I think you should follow your heart."

"Follow my heart?" Sami repeated, unable to keep disgust from edging into her voice, "Is that the best you can do? God, if I were one of your clients, I would demand my money back if you gave me advice like that." Sami stood up and walked towards the door in a huff.

"Well, don't come back for my help unless you're willing to treat me with more respect." Marlena called to her daughter, who was already out the door of the office. Smiling sadistically, she clenched the letter opener tightly, "Good, she's finally gone. Now, back to trying to find a way to kill Shawn."

Sami left the hospital and quickened her pace as she made her way down the crowded sidewalk. She was still trying to figure out why she had been so rude to her mother. It wasn't Marlena's fault she had gotten herself into this mess, she reminded herself. But she had needed help and Marlena telling her to follow her heart had been useless. Sami needed to think logically about this, not use her heart to help her decide.

She was so busy grumbling to herself, she ended up running into someone who had been walking in the opposite direction of her. The impact of hitting the person caused her to lurch backwards a few steps.

"Sorry." she muttered, looking up to see who see had run into. Bart regained his balance and smiled winningly at her.

"It's alright." he suddenly noticed the frustrated and angry expression on her face, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." she returned coolly.

"Aw, come on now, Sami. Denial is not simply just a river in....." Bart scratched his head, as if deep in thought, "The country that it's in. You can tell me about it."

"If my mom can't help me figure this out, then I really don't think you'll be able to give me any helpful advice." Sami responded.

"Just give me a chance. I give people great advice all the time. In fact, some of my friends call me the 'Advice Guy'." Bart grinned at Sami and led her over to a bench at a bus stop, "Now, go ahead. I'm listening."

Sami sighed reluctantly, realizing she had nothing to lose, "Fine. I have this friend and she has to pick either a huge amount of money or the guy she thinks she's in love with."

"Friend?" Bart asked skeptically, "How does this guy she thinks she's in love with feel about her?"

"I don't- she doesn't know." Sami corrected herself.

"Well, if she doesn't know whether or not he loves her and if she doesn't even know whether or not she loves him, then that's kind of risky. Wouldn't it be safer to stick with the money?" Bart mused, his eyes crinkling at the corners like he was thinking really hard about the dilemma.

"Probably." Sami agreed, "It's probably just her imagination or some silly fantasy that this guy loves her. But it's a wonderful fantasy and if she has a chance to make it come true, then the money wouldn't matter as much."

Bart nodded slowly, "I see. Just give me a minute to think about this." he stared off into space for a good two minutes before turning his attention back to Sami.

"I know what your friend should do." he told her.

Sami rolled her eyes, "If you give me some corny, fortune-cookie advice about following my heart, I am going to hit you over the head with my purse."

Bart shot her a funny look, "Are you insane? That never works." he reached into his pocket, "No, the only thing you can do if flip a coin." Sami didn't even realize he had figured out that she was talking about herself and not a friend as she watched him take a quarter out of his pocket. He handed it to Sami.

"Here's how it works, heads you go for the guy, tails you go for the money." Bart explained.

Sami looked at the coin in her hand doubtfully, "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Of course it's going to work." Bart said enthusiastically, "This is how I make all the important decisions in my life. The coin never lies. And let's say you get heads and you want to do two out of three to see if you'll get tails, then that means you actually want the money more than the guy."

"That makes sense, in a really messed up way." Sami looked down at the coin again and Bart huffed impatiently.

"Can you not keep me in suspense here?" he asked, his eyes trained on the quarter. Sami threw the quarter up in the air and then caught it. She moved her hand to see what the coin had landed on and her lips curved into a satisfied smile.

The coin had landed on heads.

Sami tried to give the quarter back to Bart but he shook his head, "No, keep it. It can be your lucky quarter. Whenever you don't know what to do, then flip the coin. It's never wrong."

"Okay." Sami smiled at Bart, "I have to go see someone. Thanks for the advice."

Bart nodded, "And good luck with Lucas." he added. Sami froze at his words and turned back around.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"It's all part of being the amazing, all-powerful advice guy." Bart told her.

Sami laughed, "And to think my mom is the one making a living out of telling people how to live their lives. Have you ever considered becoming a psychiatrist?"

"Nope. Because I'd be so good at it that everyone would come to me and I'd put all the other shrinks out of business." Bart replied confidently and Sami laughed again. She left Bart and headed back to her apartment building.

When Sami returned to the apartment building, she opened the door to Lucas' apartment and walked in without knocking. She found Brady and Nicole sitting on the couch, Nicole lying underneath Brady while he kissed her neck. Sami felt a sudden twinge of uncertainty. Brady looked like he was so close to losing the bet and once he did, all that money would be hers.

She smothered the idea quickly. There was a possibility that she could manage to get both Lucas and all that money but it was too dangerous. She didn't want to try and win both if in the end she ended up losing Lucas, who she realized mattered a lot more to her than any amount of money ever would.

"Brady, do you mind? I need to talk to you about something." Brady jumped when he heard Sami's voice and he made a loud thumping sound when he fell off of the couch.

"Well, make it fast. I was on my way to work before Nicole grabbed me and started trying to seduce me." Brady explained, as if making up an excuse for being in such a compromising position with Nicole.

"I'm sure that's how it happened." Sami said sarcastically, then got right to the point, "Brady, I have to talk to you in private."

Brady looked up at Sami innocently, "There's nothing you need to say to me that Nicole can't hear."

Sami glared at Brady before replying, "Fine. I'm not going to do it anymore. It's over."

"What's over?" Brady pretended not to know what she was talking about.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Sami shot back, her irritation with Brady increasing.

"Oh, that." Brady looked so arrogant at that moment, Sami had to dig her fingernails into her skin to resist going over and giving him a black eye, "Why? Is it getting too hard for you to resist Lucas' charms?"

"No." Sami snapped, going over to Brady and pulling him away so Nicole couldn't hear what they were saying, "I'm sick of him living in my apartment and I want my own personal space back. That's all. I can handle the not falling for Lucas part, I just can't handle the living with him part." she lied.

"And what I am supposed to do about that?" Brady asked, his face blank.

Sami didn't look at him, "I was hoping you'd call off the bet." she replied.

Brady frowned, "If you want to call off the bet, I'm all for it. But you still have to marry me."

"What?" Sami exploded, staring at Brady in horror.

"If you forfeit, then I automatically win, meaning you have to marry me." Brady added, crossing his arms over his chest, "So, what's it going to be, Sami? Are you going to stick it out and see if you can worm your way out of marrying me? Or are you going to give up and become Mrs. Brady Black?"

"You're disgusting and I hate you." Sami said, her face turning a violent colour. She didn't need to flip a coin to know what choice to make this time, "I will not marry you. Ever. I guess I'm just going to have to put up with Lucas for the remaining five weeks because I'd never give you that satisfaction."

Sami hated knowing that she had thought about it so hard and finally reached the right decision, then ended up back at square one. She was going to have to go another five weeks without Brady knowing that she was falling for Lucas. As if the first three weeks hadn't been bad enough. But she marched out of the apartment purposely, determined not to let Brady win this bet.

Brady smirked at Sami's retreating figure. He knew he was sort of being a jerk but he couldn't help it. After Sami had spent the past few weeks insulting him and treating him like crap, he wasn't going to do her any favours. Besides, despite his growing attraction for Nicole, he knew he could win this bet. Then Sami would marry him and he would have the chance to make her even more miserable. For the time being, he was content with pissing her off whenever their paths crossed in the apartment building. And if Lucas was unknowingly helping him inflict torture on Sami, then Brady wasn't going to complain.


	8. Complicated

Chapter Eight

Lucas brought the last few dishes over to the counter next to the sink and Sami smiled at him, "Thanks. I'll just finish doing these dishes, it won't take very long." She turned her back to him but not before he saw the look on her face. Lucas knew by the look that something was really getting to her. He hated that. All he wanted to do at that moment was soothe away all the signs of confusion and frustration he saw in her face.

"Sure." Lucas ran one hand through his hair nervously, "Sami, can I ask you something?"

"I guess so." Sami started up the water and poured some dish soap into the sink.

"You've been acting like you're upset about something lately. And don't pretend I'm imagining things because I know there's something wrong and I want to know what it is."

"Why? So you can laugh at me?" Sami asked.

"No, that's not it at all." Lucas sighed, "I don't want you to be unhappy. I wish you wouldn't shut me out. I'm right here and I can help you. Whatever you're having trouble with, you shouldn't have to go through it alone."

Sami flushed and looked away. She had tried not to let it show but she had been in a bad mood lately, thanks to Brady not letting her call off the bet. She would love to tell Lucas everything and get it off her chest. She turned to face Lucas and her eyes met his concerned brown ones. He really cared what happened to her and, unlike Brady, he actually gave a damn about her feelings. He looked so worried about her. She couldn't bring herself to push him away again, not when he was looking at her like that.

"Lucas, I- Brady and I had this agreement that-" before she could finish what she was saying, the door to her apartment flew open and Brady appeared.

"Don't you ever knock?" Sami demanded, unable to ignore the icy blue hostility and anger in his eyes.

"Sami, can I talk to you in private for a moment?" Brady asked through clenched teeth. Sami scowled at him but turned to Lucas.

"Would you mind? This should only take a few seconds." she told him.

"No problem." Lucas said, a little bewildered by the look on Brady's face, "I just remembered I left something in my car anyways." Lucas left the apartment but stopped outside the door to hear what Sami and Brady were saying.

"Are you trying to screw things up for yourself or something?" Lucas heard Brady demand angrily.

"I didn't do anything wrong." on the other side of the door, Sami was wishing Brady wasn't always in the wrong place at the wrong time. What did Brady do, stand outside her apartment door and listen to everything she said? Did he even have a life?

"You were about to. I should have just let you tell Lucas the truth. Then I could have came in here and you would have lost. We already made it clear that we had to keep this a secret. If I find out that you told Lucas, you know what's going to happen to you." Brady reminded her.

"I wasn't going to tell him though." Sami protested.

Brady gave her a knowing look, "I'm not going to believe you. This is really hard on you and you're cracking under the pressure. I'm figuring that it will only take another week before you lose it completely."

"Get out of my apartment." was all Sami said in response. Lucas took that as his cue to get away from the door and hurried over to the elevator. As he made his way towards to his car, he thought about Brady and Sami's conversation. He really didn't have any idea of what to make of it but he didn't like the way it sounded. It had sounded like Brady was threatening Sami.

"If I find out that you told Lucas, you know what's going to happen to you." The ominous tone in Brady's voice as he said those words rang in Lucas' ears. Lucas pulled some magazines out of his glove compartment and started back towards the apartment.

Sami went back to the dishes after she had managed to get Brady out of the apartment. She flung a plate into the sink aggressively, causing water to splash upwards and hit her nightgown. She couldn't contain the tears of frustration and anger that streamed down her cheeks, tears that she tried to wipe away with her hand. Her tears were relentless, built up from weeks of trying to hide her true feelings about everything. She was so tired of Brady and his smug attitude. He was so sure he was going to win the bet. And at the rate she was going, it was a definite possibility.

Then there was Lucas. No matter how moody she got, he was still sweet to her. Not to mention the fact that he never listened to her and continued to run around in his underwear, complicating her feelings even more. Sure, she lusted after him, how could she not when he was always half naked? But there was also something more, something she wouldn't be able to sort out with this bet making things even harder on her.

Lucas re-entered the kitchen and approached Sami. His eyes trailed down to the wet patches on Sami's nightgown, openly admiring the way the water caused the material to cling to her skin. Sami turned to notice him ogling her and she crossed her arms over her chest protectively.

"This isn't a wet t-shirt contest." she informed him in a cross voice, trying not to let him see that she was crying.

No, it's better, Lucas thought to himself but didn't say it out loud. After Sami had punched him in the bathroom, he was afraid to hit on her. Because he was afraid she would hit on him back and not the good, 'I-think-you're hot' kind of hit on but the bad kind of hit on. He noticed her tear-streaked face and his suspicions about Brady were intensified when he saw how upset she was.

Instinctively, he enveloped her in his arms, not even thinking about how she would react. His hands brushed against her bare arms, her skin feeling like an exotic silk under his palms. God, she was so beautiful. There was no way he would let Brady do anything to hurt her.

"What did he say to you? What is he doing that's making you so upset?" he whispered in her ear, lacing his fingers through hers. Sami leaned into the security and warmth of Lucas' body, willing her tears to stop.

"I can't tell you." she murmured, her tears beginning to slow.

"You were going to tell me before." Lucas urged gently, "You can't let him do this to you Sami. He isn't hurting you in any way, is he? Or threatening to hurt you?"

Sami shook her head, "No, it's nothing like that. It's not even a big deal, I'm just getting too emotional about it. I'm fine."

"You're not fine." Lucas countered, "You haven't been fine for a while. Whatever Brady is doing, it's having a serious effect on you. Just tell me what he's doing to you and I'll do everything I can to make him stop."

Sami sighed, "There's nothing you can do. And I have to keep this to myself."

"Sami, is it something I did? Did I do something that made you stop trusting me? Is that why you can't tell me?" Lucas asked softly, as if he was afraid to hear the answer.

Sami didn't even hesitate with her reply, "Don't even try to tell yourself that. You've been such a great friend and I never did tell you how much that meant to me. I would tell you what's going on but it would it probably make things worse in the long run. I can handle Brady, he's a wimp anyway."

Sami turned so she was facing Lucas. He still looked doubtful, like he didn't totally believe her. Trying to put his uncertainties at ease, she wrapped her arms around him. Things were already tense with Lucas because of the bet, the last thing she needed was for the situation to worsen because Lucas thought she didn't trust him.

"It's not your fault." she clarified, hoping he would believe her now. For a few moments, she reveled in the feeling of being surrounded by Lucas. She wished she could tell him the truth, that she could just let him hold her for the rest of the night like this. She wanted to be able to love him without restraints. But because she had made this bet with Brady, it would be over a month before she could finally have that chance.


	9. Nicole Drunk Is Not A Good Thing

Chapter Nine  
  
Nicole arrived back at Lucas' apartment late that evening. She tried jamming the wrong key into the lock a few times before finally finding the right key and letting herself inside. She couldn't remember very much, only that she had left a little while ago and had met up with Jan and her other friend, Jessi. She remembered being upset over Brady rejecting her again or something. She also remembered how she and Jan had started a contest to see who could drink the most shots of tequila in the shortest amount of time, then Jessi's boyfriend had come down to the bar to take all three girls home. He said that they were all drunk. Nicole giggled. That was a silly thing to say, Nicole had just enjoyed her drinks immensely and felt very happy. Like she was floating.  
  
Her thoughts were jumbled and incoherent as she tripped over the carpet and made her way further into the apartment. She heard the water in the bathroom running and her eyes lit up excitedly. Brady had to be taking a shower. She wanted to surprise him. She stumbled towards the door and pulled it open. Instead of walking into the bathroom containing a delicious, naked Brady, she walked into a bunch of blankets and towels. Nicole blinked. Oh, the bathroom door was the other door. She giggled again and paused outside the bathroom door. She tugged at her shirt, then at the zipper on her skirt. She couldn't seem to get her clothes off, her hands were fumbling around uselessly.  
  
She shrugged and pushed the door to the bathroom open. Brady could help her get her clothes off once she got into the shower with him. She walked over to the shower unsteadily, then pulled on the curtain and stepped into the shower.  
  
Brady's back was turned to her and he didn't realize she was even in the shower with him until she slid her hand up the slope of his shoulder.  
  
"See, Sami, I knew you'd see that it was a lot easier for us to shower together." he said, without turning around.  
  
Nicole frowned, "Did you just call me Sami? Is that why you won't fool around with me? Because you're already fooling around with Sami?"  
  
She watched Brady stiffen and turn around. His face was really blurry so she couldn't make out his expression. But he had to be happy to see her. How could he not? She knew he liked it when she tried to seduce him.  
  
"What the hell?" he began swearing loudly and yelling at her to get out. Nicole suddenly realized why he was so upset and smiled apologetically.  
  
"Oh, I know what's wrong. I still have all my clothes on. You see, I tried to take them off but I was having a little bit of trouble. But you can help me." she took hold of Brady's hands and guided them towards the waistband of her skirt.  
  
"It looks like someone's had one glass too many tonight." Brady said, snatching his hands away from her.  
  
Nicole pouted, "I'm not drunk, I'm not! My hands work fine still, my clothes just give me a little trouble sometimes. My hands can work great, I'll prove it."  
  
"Nicole!" Brady yelped indignantly, quickly grabbing her wrists before she could successfully grab him, "Get out right now! Damn, I can't even use my own shower anymore without getting attacked."  
  
"It's not your shower, it's Lucas'. Or are we living in Sami's apartment?" Nicole wondered out loud.  
  
"Nicole, what is wrong with you? You don't even like me." Brady reminded her, "And I don't like you. So if you don't leave right now, I am going to have to throw you out."  
  
"Brady, how can you say I don't like you? Remember when we were handcuffed together? And you don't really want to throw me out, you know you want me." Nicole shot back.  
  
"Brady?" he repeated incredulously, "What is wrong with you? I'm not Brady. And please, spare me the details of whatever the two of you did when you were handcuffed together."  
  
"Don't lie to me! You have to be Brady. If you're not Brady, then who are you?"  
  
"I'm Lucas."  
  
"Now that is the stupidest excuse you have ever given me and you've given me a lot in order to get out of being with me!" Nicole said angrily, "That's why I went to see Jan and Jessi. Because you said you wouldn't do it with me because......" she smacked her hand against her temple, "Dammit, I can't remember! Oh, wait, you said you couldn't do anything because you and Sami got into a fight and she castrated you. Then you laughed and left to go to see your dad. It's all coming back to me now."  
  
"God, you're annoying. No wonder Brady won't sleep with you. You're like a leech." Brady (well, he said he was Lucas but Nicole knew that he was lying) said in disgust.  
  
"Stop saying mean things to me." Nicole squinted, trying to make out his face a little bit better. Her vision was a little blurred but she was still convinced that Brady was in the shower with her, "I know you're Brady. I might have had a few drinks, I don't know exactly how many, but I'm not that drunk. Come on, let's have kinky drunken shower sex! It'll be great."  
  
"Nicole, if you don't get your drunk ass out of this shower right now, I am going to kill you!"  
  
************************************************************************************  
  
Sami heard the yelling from inside her own apartment and finally decided to go see what was going on. Sighing, she grabbed the spare key to Lucas' apartment and went outside. Brady was just coming down the hallway towards the apartment at the same time Sami stepped out of her own apartment. Sami stifled a groaned.  
  
"I thought you said you and Nicole were going to be gone for the rest of the evening." she said.  
  
"Dad had to cut our visit short. And I think Nicole's going to be gone the entire night. She wasn't too happy with me when she left." Brady smiled wryly, then heard Lucas shouting, "Why is Lucas in his apartment?"  
  
"Because we had a race to see who got to use the shower first and I won. He said we should shower together but I said no and then he decided to go take a shower in his apartment because you guys weren't there." Sami tried the door, which was unlocked, "I have no idea why he's yelling though."  
  
Brady and Sami went inside the apartment and went into the bathroom. Sami could make out two silhouettes behind the shower curtain and when she heard Nicole's bubbly, drunken laugh, her heart sank.  
  
"Lucas, are you and Nicole in the shower together?" both silhouettes fell silent. Brady looked over at Sami, who tried to shrug indifferently.  
  
"I don't care." she murmured, digging her nails into her palms to keep from screaming. She had to act unfazed, like it didn't matter who Lucas shared the shower with, or else Brady would realize how she felt.  
  
"He isn't Lucas. He's Brady." Nicole finally responded, slurring her s's. Brady and Sami were stunned into silence. That didn't matter, because Nicole kept talking.  
  
"You know, something as big and beautiful as that deserves a name." Nicole was talking to Lucas now, "Does it have a name?"  
  
Sami would have laughed if it had been someone else in the shower besides Lucas, "Wow, poor Lucas. It would be so awful to be confused with someone like you, Brady."  
  
Nicole continued, ignoring the voices on the other side of the curtain, "Well, fine, I'll name it then. It should be something like....." she stopped speaking for a minute, "Goliath."  
  
Even if Lucas was in the shower with Nicole, which was terrible, Sami couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing but her laughter was cut short by Nicole speaking again.  
  
"Wait, maybe not. Didn't Goliath get his head cut off?" Nicole mused. Sami covered her mouth with her hand and convulsed with silent giggles. Even Brady began chuckling. They heard Nicole let out a put-upon sigh.  
  
"Whoever is in the bathroom, can you get out? Like, right now? Because I've kind of got my hands full of Brady here."  
  
Sami and Brady both cringed when she said that and Lucas didn't hesitate to correct her, "She meant with. Not of. With! Now get her away from me!"  
  
"Brady, if you don't get them out of here right now and take me against the shower wall, I am going to make sure the head of your Goliath gets cut off too!" Nicole growled menacingly. Brady looked positively queasy after that remark and Sami felt her face heat up.  
  
"Back off, you slut! Get your own Goliath, that one's mine!" Brady stared at her in amazement and Sami's eyes widened. No, she couldn't have said that out loud. She hadn't meant to. But the look on Brady's face told her she had. Before she could try and do damage control, Nicole spoke again.  
  
"Chloe, are you trying to bother us again? Don't you get it? Brady wants me! Me! Not you! Get over it!"  
  
Brady shook his head in amazement, "How much did you drink tonight?" he went over to the shower and pulled Nicole out of the shower. Sami couldn't help being relieved that Nicole still had all her clothes on, even if Lucas hadn't had anything on. At least Nicole was too drunk to remember seeing him naked. At least, Sami hoped she was.  
  
Nicole turned to look at Brady and her eyes widened in horror, "But, Victor, you're supposed to be dead!" she tried to squirm out of his grip but Brady held onto her tightly.  
  
"Well, getting mistaken for Victor is even worse than getting mistaken for Brady." Sami said thoughtfully, smirking at Brady's expression.  
  
"Nicole, how much did you drink?" Brady repeated.  
  
"Do you even have to ask? She'd have to drink a whole bar's worth of liquor to mistake Lucas' Goliath for your Dopey the Dwarf!" Sami retorted.  
  
"How would you know about anything about that, Sami?" Brady inquired, looking very offended.  
  
"You can tell!" Sami responded.  
  
Nicole started laughing again, "You know, Dopey the Dwarf is very accurate when you're talking about Victor. It was so small and floppy. You know, you had to work him so hard to get his spring into action." she made a springing motion with one finger and continued to laugh hysterically.  
  
Brady grimaced, "I think we should gag her until she sobers up. The things that come out of her mouth are so-"  
  
"Funny." Sami finished, laughing right along with Nicole, "You were never this funny when you got drunk, Lucas."  
  
Nicole looked interested, "Lucas? That's not true. He said lots of funny and pointless things when he was drunk. One time, when we were married and he was drunk, he told me where his erogenous zone was. He said it was right on his-"  
  
Lucas stuck his head out from behind the shower curtain and flung a shampoo bottle at Nicole. It hit her right on the back of the head. Nicole winced and turned to glare at Lucas.  
  
"What's your problem, Brady? You should be saving me from Victor, not throwing things at me."  
  
"Come on, you're soaking wet. We need to get you some dry clothes." Brady told her.  
  
Nicole turned and batted her eyelashes at the shower curtain, "I'm soaking wet for Brady."  
  
Sami flinched, "All right, I changed my mind. The gag is a very good idea."  
  
Brady pushed Nicole into the bedroom and told her to find some dry clothes. Nicole whined about not being able to get her clothes off and Brady promised he'd come and help her in a minute. He then drew his attention back to Sami.  
  
"What was that about Nicole backing off and getting her own Goliath?" Brady smiled smugly, "You sounded like you really cared in there."  
  
Sami rolled her eyes, "Yeah, right. It's just that Lucas is the father of my child and I got a little territorial. For Will's sake." Damn, she was a good liar. Brady was so stupid, he'd definitely buy it.  
  
"Well, you should watch what you say. People could get the wrong idea." he said simply, before entering the bedroom and going over to Nicole.  
  
A few seconds later, Nicole began screeching, "Get away from me, Victor. Brady can help me change me clothes, not you!"  
  
Sami walked out of the apartment and back into her own, only to find Lucas standing in the apartment, wearing a pair of boxers and nothing else. He leaned against the counter and grinned at her.  
  
"It's a good thing you won the race and got to shower over here. I bet you wouldn't have taken it too well if Nicole had joined you in the shower and mistaken you for Brady." Lucas commented.  
  
"I would have probably freaked out and killed her." Sami admitted, a smile spreading over her face as she remembered how funny Nicole had been in the bathroom.  
  
"You sounded like you wanted to kill her." Lucas remarked, smirking at Sami, "Especially when you told her to back off and get her own Goliath because......" his voice trailed off suggestively, "Would you mind explaining that one to me?"  
  
Sami blushed, "Between you and Brady, I don't think I'm ever going to be able to forget I said that. I didn't mean it the way it sounded. I just don't like Nicole."  
  
"Uh huh." Lucas sounded totally unconvinced, "And what does disliking Nicole have to do with my......" he grinned again, "Goliath."  
  
"Nothing." Sami said in a weak voice, "You're reading too much into it. Good-night."   
  
Lucas looked at her in confusion, "But it's only ten."  
  
"So? I'm tired." Sami said defensively, going into her room and shutting the door behind her. She wasn't actually tired but she didn't want to see Lucas after what she had said. No, she was just going to be awake the entire night, haunted by visions of Lucas, his boxers and his 'Goliath' as Nicole had so appropriately named it. 


	10. Another Bet

Chapter Ten

"When did you finally get out of bed?"

Nicole whirled around to see Lucas and the mischievous, knowing glint in his eyes did nothing to help her still pounding head. She closed her car door and smiled thinly at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nicole held her breath as she waited for him to answer. She had only gotten up about two hours ago and had still been feeling too sick to eat dinner. She had gotten hung-over before but her other hang-overs were nothing compared to this one.

Nicole couldn't remember any of the events that had taken place the night before. The last thing she remembered was getting into Jessi's boyfriend's car and getting driven back to the apartment building. She had asked Brady what had happened but Brady had said he didn't want to talk about it, making Nicole even more certain she had a fool out of herself in some way. But she hoped that Brady was the only one who had been around to witness it. If Lucas or anyone else had been around, it would be even more humiliating to think about.

"I just thought you'd probably be in bed for most of the day after last night." Lucas smirked at Nicole, "You were pretty out of it."

"Brady and his big mouth." Nicole muttered, staring at the ground.

"I assure you, Brady didn't need to say a word." Lucas responded, "In fact, you could say that I was a victim of your drunkenness."

"What do you mean?" Nicole asked, unable to help herself. She was actually pretty curious to know what had went on while she was drunk, even though she would probably be better off not knowing how she had acted. Especially if Lucas had been a 'victim' of her drunkenness. She could tell by the way he was looking at her that it had to have been pretty bad.

"You mean Brady didn't tell you?" Lucas shook his head, "Then again, that makes sense. You said some pretty nasty things about him. And Victor. And me?"

"You? Oh God, what did I say?"

"Hm, I don't know if I should tell you. It's pretty dirty, Nicole." Lucas told her as she squirmed uncomfortably. He knew he was enjoying torturing her a little too much but after last night, he couldn't resist.

"Stop stalling and just tell me, dammit." Nicole said, tugging at her hair with irritation.

"Fine. Well, I was trying to take a shower in my apartment and then you came back from wherever you had been. You got the idea into your head that I was Brady, so you jumped into the shower and asked me to help you take your clothes off. Then I told you I was Lucas and you said I was lying."

"I didn't." Nicole's head throbbed harder, and she didn't even notice the amused expression on Lucas' face.

"There's more." he added, pausing for a moment, "You couldn't see that well, considering you thought I was Brady. But you must have seen some things pretty clearly because you decided to give me a name for my, um-" Lucas noticed Nicole's face was colouring and knew she got the message, "You said it's name should be Goliath."

"In your dreams." Nicole shot back, "I would never say that about you."

"Oh, but you did. And if you think that's bad, you don't want to know what you said about Victor and Brady."

"Probably not because I know you're making all of this up." Nicole answered, hoping that she was right. She really wanted to believe that Lucas was just saying all this to embarrass her but if she had been so drunk that she couldn't remember a single thing that had went on, then anything could have happened.

Lucas ignored her last comment and he suddenly noticed her new car, "Damn, when did you get this? It's gorgeous." he ran his fingers along the surface of the midnight blue Lambourgini that Nicole had purchased several days before with her late husband's money. Nicole watched with growing possessiveness as he continued running his fingers along the car's surface. Stop fingerprinting my car, you bastard, she thought to herself.

"Lucas, it's a car. It does not want to engage in foreplay with you." Nicole snapped.

Lucas drew his fingers away from the car, "Someone's bitchy today. Must be that hangover still hanging over your head."

"I never would have gotten drunk if it hadn't been for Brady and his stupid excuse about Sami castrating him." Nicole tried to defend herself, even though she could tell it came out sounding like she was whining.

Lucas' eyes darkened, "What is it with those two? There's so much tension between the two of them."

"Tension? What, like sexual tension?" Nicole asked, unable to keep the envy out of her voice.

"No. Just tension. They've acted really tense around each other. Don't tell me you haven't noticed."

"Actually, I haven't." Nicole mumbled, looking more than a little confused.

"But it's so God damn obvious." Lucas shook his head, "Has anyone ever told you that you give dumb blondes a bad name?"

"Brady pretty much said the same thing a couple nights ago." Nicole admitted, "Which reminds me, I have to buy you a new microwave."

"What did you do to my old one? The last time I checked, it was working perfectly fine."

Nicole smiled sheepishly, "That was before I got this great idea to make a special dinner for Brady. It was going really well until I used the microwave. Brady got so mad at me. I don't know why though, it's not like I spend a lot of my spare time cooking. I mean, how was I supposed to know that you aren't supposed to put metal bowls in the microwave? Anyway, your microwave exploded and I need to get you a new one."

"You are such an idiot." Lucas leaned against the side of the Lambourgini, earning a deadly look from Nicole in return, "Brady is never going to have sex with you."

"Yes, he will." Nicole shot back, too angry to actually realize what she was saying, "I'd bet that car, which you're getting your ass prints all over the new wax job on by the way, that we will consummate our relationship by the end of the month."

Lucas took the hint and quit leaning on the car, "Seriously?"

"Yes!" Nicole confirmed, still too pissed off to stop herself, "I will bet this beautiful car that I can get Brady in bed with me by the first of May."

"You sound pretty confident." Lucas observed, "And it's a really nice car, so I'll do it."

"Fine but if I get Brady in bed by the end of the month and you don't get Sami to admit she loves you and be publicly affectionate with you by the same deadline, you owe me something."

"When did Sami come into this?" Lucas demanded.

"Please, I'm really not the dumb blonde you think I am. You're crazy about her and she can't stand you. Which is why I'm so sure I'll be keeping my car." Nicole said.

Lucas glared at her, "What do I have to do if I lose?" he asked.

"Well, I don't need your money and you don't really have anything else I might want." Nicole considered her options for a moment, then smiled, "You have to do whatever I tell you to do for the entire month of May, if you lose."

"I have to do anything you tell me to do?" Lucas repeated, "Look, I know it's probably getting to you about Brady not wanting to sleep with you but I don't want-"

"Don't think so highly of yourself." Nicole scoffed, "It would just be funny to see you make a fool out of yourself."

"That isn't going to happen because you're going to lose and I'm going to win." Lucas told her.

"So, we have a deal?"

"Wait." Lucas held up his hand, "If you sleep with Brady, it can't be when he's under the influence of any kind of drug or alcohol. You cannot pay him to sleep with you or bribe him with anything else. If you succeed in doing that and I can't get Sami to fall for me, I'll be your slave for a month. But if you can't get Brady and I end up with Sami, then you give up your car. And if we both succeed, then you give me the car and I'll be your slave."

Nicole narrowed her eyes, "I'm not going to need to use anything except my body once Brady realizes how much he wants me."

Lucas snorted disbelievingly, "If that's what you want to think, Nicole. But you better keep that car in mint condition because in a month, it's going to be mine."


	11. Playing With Fire NC17

Chapter Eleven

Sami was bored. She didn't know why she had agreed to come to Victor's funeral with Lucas at all. She had been happy to see Victor go, she didn't want to go to his funeral and be forced to look sad. She also didn't want to sit in a limo for three hours because Victor wanted to be buried at some special out of town burial ground. But then she remembered why she had decided to go. Simply because Lucas had asked her to.

And he was doing a great job of showing his appreciation. He had been asleep for the last half and hour and they had only been driving for about an hour. It was still early in the morning though, so Sami knew she could easily go back to sleep. But she didn't feel like it.

Sami scowled at her travelling companion. Why should he get to sleep while she was awake and suffering? She scooted down the limo seat and began shaking his shoulder.

"Lucas, wake up." she hissed, shaking his shoulder more roughly when he didn't move. No matter how hard she tried to get him awake, he wouldn't stir. She groaned in disgust. He wasn't usually this hard to get awake. But today, he was such a heavy sleeper, he might as well have been dead.

Giving up on trying to wake him, Sami began almost unconsciously admiring him. He had always looked so good in suits. Then again, he was at his best when he was in those boxers or that towel. But that probably wasn't anything compared to what he'd look like with nothing on at all.

When she realized what she was thinking and noticed that she was running her hand up and down Lucas' arm, she flinched and moved several inches away from him. She had to put a stop to those thoughts before they got carried away.

Still, she was very bored. She tried bouncing on the seat a couple times to wake Lucas up but that didn't work either. He must have had a late night last night. Not that she would know anything about that, she reminded herself. Although she certainly wouldn't mind entertaining him late into the night. No, not these deadly thoughts again! She stared straight ahead at the black screen separating herself and Lucas from the limo driver and forced herself to keep her mind free of all things Lucas.

Nope, too hard. She didn't know why she even bothered trying. She looked over at Lucas' sleeping form again and a very twisted kind of curiosity filled her thoughts. She wondered what he would like naked. They had been in the photo lab together ten years ago but that seemed like it had been a million years ago. Sure, there had been that time with the towel but she had never gotten the chance to really see it after she had pulled the towel off. She was seriously regretting that now. Not that there wasn't a simple solution considering Lucas was being a jerk and refusing to wake up......

"What is wrong with me?" Sami muttered under her breath, disgusted with herself. She couldn't do that. Of course, she was still bored. And Lucas was asleep. And she was mad at him for being asleep.

She moved back over to Lucas and let her hand come to rest on his knee. Holding her breath, she waited for him to give her some sign that he was waking up. Nothing. She exhaled quietly and slowly, tentatively slid her hand up his upper leg. When she finally reached the top of his dress pants, her hand hovered at the button hesitantly.

What are you doing, Sami, she thought to herself in shock, What if he wakes up? You cannot pull his pants down, how are you supposed to pull them back up without him waking up?

Still, his unresponsiveness was pissing her off. She forged ahead and unbuttoned his pants, then unzipped his fly. She slowly slid his pants down below his knees, keeping her eyes focussed on Lucas' face. He didn't react and she sighed with relief. Now all that remained covering him was a pair of boxers. She could already see the bulge underneath but she saw that all the time in her apartment. She wanted to see more.

She wasn't sure she could get up her courage to go the rest of the way. He probably would be pretty upset with her if he woke up and found her undressing him. Of course, there was always the chance he wouldn't be upset and that idea scared her just as much as the idea of him being angry. Besides, it wasn't like she hadn't seen it before. Not for ten long years though. And, knowing Brady, she probably wouldn't get another opportunity to do something like this. And no matter how much she hated to admit it, she really wanted to.

If she pulled his pants back up now, then all her fun would be over and she'd have to spend another two hours being bored. Besides, the pants were the hard part. The boxers were all elastic and easy to get off. So, she began tugging on the boxers until her prize was finally displayed.

There, I did it, Sami thought to herself, Now I better pull them back up before Lucas wakes up and freaks out. But she continued to stare at his length, her senses raging with desire. She didn't know what Lucas would do if he woke up and caught Sami taking advantage of him like this but at that moment, she didn't care. Her mouth was practically watering at the sight of Lucas and his 'Goliath'.

She brought her fingers near his shaft, then abruptly pulled them back. No, she wouldn't do that. Because she knew if she started touching him, she wouldn't want to stop. Not after these weeks of living with him, wanting him but not being able to have him. Flashbacks of the torturous weeks went through her mind. It had been killing her not to give into temptation. And now his penis was right in front of her, practically screaming, "Touch me! Touch me!" She'd be insane to pass up an opportunity like this one.

She touched him experimentally at first, still a little bit scared that Lucas would wake up. Once her fingers made contact with the hard, insatiable flesh and Lucas didn't move, she relaxed a little bit. She ran one finger up and down his length, watching in fascination as he began to harden. Wow, if I can do that to him when he's asleep, God knows what I'd be able to do to him when he's awake. 

Her entire body was igniting with lust as she touched him again, smoothing her thumb over the head of his now raging erection. For a moment, Sami bit her bottom lip nervously. She was playing with fire, she knew that, although most of her mind was past the point of caring. She moulded her hand around his solid, turgid flesh and had began to slide her hand up and down him when a hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.

She let out a startled shriek, "Is everything all right back there?" the limo driver called.

"Everything is fine." Lucas assured the driver before turning back to Sami. He had no idea what she was doing but he wasn't sure he minded either. He was a little bit insulted that she would just start touching him without asking. Although the look on her face was pretty amusing..... okay, he was probably 1 part insulted, 2 parts offended and 7 parts horny, which was pretty obvious judging from all the blood he could feel pulsating in his groin. And the fact that the hand connected to the wrist he had grabbed had not lost contact with his dick was not helping the ratio at all. At this rate, he would simply be 10 parts horny in a matter of seconds.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, trying to look mad.

"I- I don't know." she stammered, her face heating up. She had known this was going to happen, why hadn't she stopped herself before it came to this?

"You don't know." he smirked at her, "You just decided to undress me and start touching me for the hell of it?" he had to admit this much though, he was very impressed by her boldness. 

"Yes." she said weakly, miserably aware that her face must be bright red by then, "Well, not exactly. I was mad at you because you were asleep. I was trying to wake you up."

"Well, you managed to do that, in more ways than one." Lucas told her. She looked so embarrassed that he couldn't help feeling sorry for her, "Hey, relax, Sami. It's no big deal, honest." Liar, he thought to himself. The fact that he had woken up to find Sami touching him was enough to flatter him and fill him with hope that she really did want him, even possibly love him. She didn't need to know the full extent of how this was affecting him though, his boner, which, he noted, she couldn't seem to take her eyes off of, was evidence enough.

"Sorry." she mumbled, letting her hands fall down to her sides.

"Don't be sorry. It's just......" he took a deep breath. He didn't want to push her but he did want her to know that he didn't mind what she had been doing to him, "Would you mind fixing the little problem you caused? You don't have to if you don't want." he added quickly.

Lucas didn't miss the way Sami's eyes lit up for a split second, the way a little kid's would when they were excited about opening Christmas presents. But that look was quickly replaced by one of compliance and reluctance that he hoped was nothing more than a pretense.

"I guess I kind of have to." she said in an almost flirtatious voice, then brushed her hands along his pulsing member, which was throbbing violently, demanding her attention. After several more skilful strokes, Lucas found himself emitting a low, hungry growl of appreciation. Sami looked up and kissed him softly, teasingly on the lips.

"You have to remember to keep it down. We don't want to give the limo driver heart failure and make him cause an accident, now do we?" without waiting for a reply, she lowered her head and encased him in the wet warmth of her restless mouth.

Lucas gasped, My cock is in her mouth, was the only thing he could think as she continued sliding her tongue along arousal. His breathing level continued escalating until he was almost to the point of hyperventilating and he found himself getting lost in the searing sensations of Sami's tongue spiralling around him intimately. He brushed her hair away from her face, taking in the way her eyes had diluted with passion and the saucy expression she was wearing. A previous girlfriend had told him that there were hardly any women who actually enjoyed giving men head and after a few women had attempted to give him head and had practically turned green, he could believe that. But Sami really seemed to be enjoying herself. And that naughty look on her voice as she sucked him off was enough to almost send him over the edge by itself.

Sami felt the sticky liquid running down her throat just as the limo lurched to a stop. She and Lucas heard the limo driver's door slam shut and Sami let out an audible, "Oh my God." as she automatically helped Lucas fix his clothes while trying to make herself look presentable at the same time.

Sami's side door opened and the driver poked his head inside, "We're taking a little rest stop. If you need to go to the bathroom or anything, now's your chance."

"We're fine." Sami said, still slightly out of breath. The driver nodded curtly and shut the door behind him. He grimaced as he remembered the couple's dishevelled clothing and flushed faces, then remembered the breathless tone the blonde woman had used when speaking to him. That was the third couple this week that had done the nasty in his limo. Shit, man, how many times am I going to have to sterilize the backseat? He wondered to himself as he made his way inside the gas station. 


	12. Victor's Funeral

Chapter Twelve

Sami took another step a minute too late and she felt her entire body tense when Lucas' hand encircled her arm. After leaving the funeral, she had been spending the entire funeral reception avoiding Lucas, making her way around the buffet table and trying to keep as far away from Lucas as possible. Lucas had been alternating between talking to his mother and trying to catch up with Sami.

Sami turned around and regarded him coolly, "Yes?" she hoped he would make this as quick and painless as possible. The aftermath of her actions in the limo had really gotten to her as she sat through Victor's funeral and she was now shocked and horrified at her brazen behaviour.

"You've been avoiding me." he said flatly, loosening his grip on her arm.

"No, I haven't." Sami responded quickly, "There's just a lot of other people at this funeral I want to talk to."

"Right." Lucas said sarcastically, "That's why you've been walking circles around this table for the last hour. Sami, I don't want you to feel awkward about what happened in the limo. I mean, just because we had sex doesn't mean-"

Sami flinched visibly, "First of all, I feel awkward around you all the time because you're creepy. Second of all, we did not have sex."

Lucas frowned, "Yes we did."

"You're from a different planet, Lucas. That was not sex. I understand it's probably been a long time but if you've really forgotten the definition of sex, then go find a dictionary and spare me."

"If it wasn't sex, then what do you call it?" Lucas challenged.

"I call it oral s- I call it not having sex." she finished lamely.

"Why did you have to correct yourself? Because you were going to say you call it oral sex. That's right. Oral sex." Lucas could not believe they were arguing over something this stupid. Still, he knew that this was taking his mind off the bigger revelation Sami's actions had created- the fact that Sami obviously wanted him a lot more than she had ever let on before.

"That wasn't what I was going to say. And no matter what you try telling yourself, what happened in the limo was nothing more than a type of foreplay." Sami told him.

"Maybe you're just telling yourself that it's foreplay because you're having such a hard time dealing with that fact that you enjoyed it so much." Lucas shot back.

"You are so full of yourself!" Sami returned hotly, "I didn't enjoy it. I only did it because you made me."

"I made you?" Lucas snorted in disbelief, "Correct me if I'm wrong but I distinctly remember saying, 'You don't have to if you don't want'."

"Well, I felt obligated." Sami explained in a low voice, "And that's your fault for waking up! I wouldn't have done it if you had stayed asleep."

"But back in the limo you said that you wanted me to wake up. Why do you keep contradicting yourself? Besides, I think you still would have done what you did if I had stayed asleep at the rate you were going!" Lucas added, his eyes flashing wickedly, remembering the expression on her face back in the limo.

"Get real!" Sami spat out, although she was unable to further defend herself, due to the fact she knew he was right, "This is so stupid, let's just settle this."

She grabbed Rex's arm, who was walking by with Mimi at his side, "Rex, you're supposed to be a genius. Do you think you could answer a question for us?"

"I'll try." Rex said, waiting for her to elaborate.

"Well, you see Lucas actually thinks that a blow-job is considered sex. But I think it's foreplay. Which is it, sex or foreplay?" Sami asked him.

"It's definitely foreplay." Rex answered after a moment's hesitation.

"I don't think so." Mimi countered, "I think it is considered sex."

"Thank you." Lucas smiled gratefully at Mimi before turning back to smirk at Sami, "At least someone knows what she's talking about."

"Why does it matter so much anyway?" Rex asked curiously, "I mean, the two of you really seemed worked up over this and I don't know why you would get so excited over it unless......."

Lucas scratched the back of his neck nervously while Sami picked up a celery stick and bit into it viciously, avoiding eye contact with both Rex and Mimi.

Mimi let out a shocked squeal, "Wow, I cannot wait to go tell Belle that her sister has finally gotten together with a guy! In fact, I think I'm going to go tell her right now."

"Like hell you are." Sami grabbed Mimi's arm, "You are not going to tell anyone because if either of you breathe a word, I will make you pay."

"But you're not denying it." Rex observed, "I guess that means it's true. You and Lucas were actually.....doing that."

Mimi looked a little bit sick now, "Ew, what is wrong with you? How could you do that? You know, I tried it once and I got sick and threw up. It's not fun."

"Mimi, would you mind not spilling the details of our sex life to everyone? Especially not my relatives?"

"Sami seemed to like it." Lucas couldn't resist saying, then watched as Sami began blushing.

"That's way too much information." Rex told his brother, now looking a little bit sick himself.

"If you value your life, never let your mother hear you say that." Mimi warned Lucas, who grinned in response.

Sami exhaled noisily, "I can't take this any more. If we want an answer to our question, we're going to have to ask an expert." she looked around the room until she saw the person she was searching for. She called Nicole over, who left Brady standing with Kate and Phillip.

"Is a blow-job considered sex or foreplay?" Sami asked as soon as Nicole had reached them. Nicole considered it for a moment.

"It depends on whether or not you have sex afterwards. If you have sex after, then it's foreplay. But it you don't have sex after, then it's sex." Nicole answered, after thinking it over.

"Oh sure, take Lucas' side. That made no sense anyways." Sami snapped.

"It made perfect sense. And you said it so well yourself, Sami. Nicole is an expert on those kinds of things." Lucas smirked at Nicole, who rolled her eyes.

"I refuse to dignify that with a response." Nicole said cheerfully.

"I can't believe you'd even indulge in such a horrible conversation in the first place." Brady's voice broke into the conversation. He, Phillip and Kate had all come over to see what was going on, "I cannot believe you are discussing such inappropriate things at my grandfather's funeral! You could at least try and show some respect."

"Hey, don't take it so hard, man. We didn't mean anything by it." Lucas told Brady, who only looked slightly mollified.

"Why would you be discussing something like that anyways?" Kate demanded, "And I know there's a reason because, Lucas, I can't remember the last time you've looked so guilty. You look like a little kid caught with his hand stuck in a cookie jar."

"Judging from the current circumstances, that probably wouldn't be the best way to word things." Rex dead-panned. Mimi giggled as her eyes darted between Lucas, Kate and Sami nervously. Sami began choking on her drink and when Lucas tried to pat her back, she waved his hand away. Kate watched all of this with dread building up inside her.

"What do you mean?" Kate asked, her voice shrill.

Rex knew how easy it would be to just tell Kate the truth and then sit back and watch the fireworks. But since Sami had kept the secret of his paternity for as long as she had, he might as well keep quiet. For a couple months, at least. Not to mention that holding the knowledge of Sami and Lucas' exploits over Sami's head would be very entertaining. Rex shut his mouth and watched as Sami desperately looked around the room for an escape.

She finally found one and her shoulders dropped with relief, "Oh, it looks like Shawn and Belle are getting ready to leave. I'll just get a ride home with them because suddenly I'm really tired. I'll see you all later." before Lucas could protest, Sami practically sprinted over to her sister and cousin, glad that she had managed to get out of finishing the conversation she had started with Lucas.


	13. Sami's Diary

Chapter Thirteen

Jan followed Nicole inside Sami's apartment, sighing loudly to let Nicole know she wasn't happy about having to do this.

"Why do we have to talk to her?" Jan complained, "She's Belle's sister. Anyone related to Belle deserves to burn in hell, just like Belle does."

Nicole flashed her accomplice a dirty look, "Don't even say that. Brady is her half-brother and Marlena is your shrink. It's one thing to hate Belle but it's another thing to hate all things related to her."

"I can't believe she and Shawn got back together." Jan grumbled, "You know what I heard them talking about the other day? Belle was practically begging him to let her give him a blow-job. 'But my sister and Rex don't think it's sex, so it's not. Please, Shawn, don't make me wait any longer.'" Jan mimicked her, "She's such a loser, she probably wouldn't even know how to do it."

"Enough of that." Nicole scolded Jan, "I am trying to get Sami on my good side and you're not going to help anything if she overhears you saying stuff like that about her little sister."

Jan wrinkled her nose, "Why would you want to get on her good side?" she asked.

"It's not that I want to, I have to." Nicole explained in a condescending tone, "We've already been over this but I'll explain it again. If Sami falls for Lucas, he gets my car. Therefore, I must act all buddy-buddy with Sami so I can encourage her to stay away from Lucas."

"Isn't that cheating?" Jan wondered.

"No, it's not cheating." Nicole looked exasperated, "Lucas is doing the same thing! Just the other day, he was over talking to Brady and he said the most horrible things about me. He called me an insane Barbie doll! Then, he compared me to Cheeswhiz, because he said, even though I'm one chemical away from being plastic, I'm still around to eat when there's nothing left anywhere else."

"You know, that's kind of funny." Jan stared at Nicole incredulously, "I don't know where he gets it from though. You're too small to be fake."

"Jan!" Nicole screeched indignantly.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant, if they were fake, then they would be humongous. But they're not, they're just regular sized." Jan said quickly.

Nicole calmed down and shook her head, "Sometimes, I really do wonder about you, Jan."

Jan ignored her and plopped down on the couch. Her leg hit something which was lodged between the couch cushions and she moved over to see what it was. Picking up a small book, she flipped through it and she suddenly realized it was a diary. Since Sami was Belle's sister and Jan was still outraged about Belle getting Shawn back, Jan flipped to one of the last entries in the book without giving a thought to Sami's privacy.

Dear Diary,

Every time I close my eyes to sleep, I dream about Lucas. Ever since I saw him naked in the cave, I can't think about anything else. But now, every time I think about him, I wind up needing to take a cold shower.

The diary entry ended abruptly and a sneaky smile flitted across Jan's face. She could have fun with this. Lots and lots of fun, as long as Nicole didn't find out. She watched Nicole out of the corner of her eye, who had her back turned to Jan. Jan quickly tore the diary entry out of the book and left the rest of the diary lying on the couch, face up and still open.

Jan stood up with the piece of paper in her hand, "I just remembered I have to go do something. See you later, Nicole." Nicole watched as Jan left the apartment with a piece of paper in her hand. She looked at the open diary and picked it up curiously. She went to the last page and started reading out loud.

"Dear Diary, every time I see Lucas now, I just keep thinking about what happened in the limo." Nicole continued to read the diary entry in her head, then dropped the book in disgust.

"Ew, Sami, that's like written porno!" she exclaimed, "Just because you and Lucas did that, does not mean you need to describe it in such depth and then leave the writing out in the open for everyone to read."

"I didn't." Sami said as she walked through the door to her apartment, the cold, angry tone of her voice causing Nicole to jump in surprise, "Wait, you're right. I started writing a couple of nights ago and I forgot about the diary completely. I never should have left it in between the couch cushions, not with Lucas living here."

"I don't think Lucas is the person you have to worry about right now." Nicole said wryly, remembering the paper in Jan's hand.

"What do you mean?" Sami asked, her eyes widening with unconcealed fear.

"I mean, Jan just took part of your diary with her. And she's not in a very good mood so there's no telling what she plans on doing with it."

"She did?" Sami shrieked, "Nicole, we have to stop her! Come on, help me find her before half of Salem sees what I wrote in my diary."

"We?" Nicole questioned snottily, then remembered she was supposed to be getting on Sami's good side. Besides, if everyone reads whatever Sami wrote, everyone is probably going to realize that Sami has feelings for Lucas. Then I'll lose my car.

"Okay, let's go." Nicole grabbed Sami's arm and yanked her outside the apartment and down the hall. The two of them got into Nicole's car and began driving down the streets of Salem.

"Do you know where she's going to be?" Sami asked anxiously, craning her neck to see if she could spot a head of dark, curly hair.

"I have no idea." Nicole said helplessly, then remembered her PDA. She pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to Sami.

"Send Jan a message and ask her where she is." Nicole ordered Sami as she drove down another street, looking for signs of Jan.

Sami sent the message, then stared at Jan's reply in horror, "What? What did she say?" Nicole demanded.

"She said she was just at the library because......." Sami took a deep breath, "Because she needed to use the photocopying machine."

"Damn her!" Nicole said angrily, pounding on the steering wheel with one hand, "She's just supposed to be my minion, not have a mind of her own!"

Jan had left the library by the time Sami and Nicole got there. There was no sign of her on the streets, so Nicole started up her car and began driving down nearby streets, trying to find her.

They had been driving for an hour and a half when they finally spotted Jan, walking along the sidewalk outside Sami's apartment building. Nicole pulled over and once Sami had rolled her window down, Nicole glared at Jan.

"Jan Spears, get into this car right this second!" Nicole said, her voice tight and strained with anger. Jan noticed the look on Sami's face and tried walk away but Sami opened her door and yanked Jan inside the tiny sports car.

"You're not going anywhere." Sami closed the door and Nicole and Sami both looked at Jan expectantly.

"What?" Jan asked innocently as Sami fought back the urge to strangle her.

"You know what you did. What were you doing with Sami's diary?" Nicole asked, her eyes turning into angry slits.

"What do you mean?" Jan tried to continue playing innocent but the glares she was receiving from both Nicole and Sami eventually caused her to back down, "I kind of put your diary entry about you and Lucas in a whole bunch of people's mailboxes." she admitted.

"You little bitch." before Sami could inflict the amount of physical pain she wanted to on the younger woman, Nicole stopper her.

"Hey, don't kill her. She might still be useful to me someday. However," Nicole turned her attention to Jan, "You should never have tried to cause trouble for me and Sami."

"How does it cause trouble for you?" Sami demanded.

"Lucas is already way too conceited, "And if the entry Jan stuck in everyone's mailboxes is anything like that entry about your limo ride, then he's going to be even more intolerable!" Nicole explained.

"What limo ride?" Jan looked interested, "The entry I took out was about a cave."

Sami winced, "Oh God, not that one. You are going to pay for this someday, I mean it."

"Apologize to Sami, Jan." Nicole instructed Jan, who mumbled a half-hearted apology, then handed a wad of papers to Sami.

"There should be about thirty there. I didn't get around to putting those in mailboxes yet." Jan told her.

"How many photocopies did you make?" Sami asked nervously.

Jan swallowed hard and scooted further away from Sami, although it was pretty hard to do in such a small vehicle, "A hundred."

"A hundred?" Sami exploded, "What is wrong with you? Do you have no life? Why would you do that to me, I never did anything to you!"

"I have my reasons." Jan returned testily.

"Or maybe you're just a lunatic." Sami shot back.

"You're the lunatic."

"I'm not the who follows Nicole around like a dog!"

"Well, I'm not the one who's Belle's sister!" Jan practically screamed.

"Quit it, you two." Nicole interrupted, "We have to get all those papers back before people start checking their mailboxes. Jan, where do we start?"

Jan pointed down a street lined with modern, two-story homes, "I got every house on that street, so maybe we should go there first." Nicole never lets me have any fun anymore and she's not even helping me get Shawn, Jan thought, And what is Sami's problem? I never follow Nicole around like a dog. I guess I'll just conveniently forget to tell them where I just finished leaving one of the diary entries. Smiling to herself as she imagined Sami and Nicole's reaction when she told them, Jan slumped down against the seat of the Lambourgini and prepared to spend the rest of the night removing papers from people's mailboxes.


	14. Another Run In With Kate

Chapter Fourteen

"We're finally on the last house." Nicole looked relieved as she, Jan and Sami stepped in front of the final house. Sami realized where they were and punched Jan on the arm.

"You sent one of those to Kate? Do you know what will happen to me if she finds that note?" Sami demanded, staring up at the house apprehensively.

Jan giggled, "Nope but it would probably be funny."

"About as funny as me tearing you to shreds for this." Sami growled, taking a step towards Jan. Jan stopped giggling and moved behind Nicole.

"All right, who's going to go get the note?" Nicole asked.

Sami and Jan fell silent. Nicole raised her eyebrows, "If you two think that I am going up there to get that thing all by myself and risk getting caught by devil bitch, you've got another thing coming." unlike most of the mailboxes on the street, which were by the side of the road, Kate's mailbox was right next to her front door.

"We should all go." Jan spoke up, "Then, it will be three against one and she won't be able to do anything to us. And you're going to need protection if she read that diary entry already, Sami."

"Fine." Sami huffed, starting up the walkway. Nicole and Jan caught up to her and all three of them continued advancing on the house until they were standing next to the mailbox.

"Get it out, Jan." Nicole hissed. Jan popped open the mailbox and Nicole and Sami winced at the loud squeaking sound.

"Keep it down!" Sami said, looking into the house fearfully. She knew she could handle Kate, she just didn't want Kate to catch her going through the mailbox.

Jan ignored her and made loud banging sounds on the sides of the mailbox as she searched for the scrap of paper.

"She sure does get a lot of mail." Jan said conversationally as she riffled through the contents of the mailbox, "I wish I got this much mail."

"Would you shut up and find the papers?" Sami raised her voice a notch, temporarily forgetting that they were supposed to be quiet.

"You're even worse than Nicole." Jan muttered, then squealed happily, "I found it! It got stuck in one of the corners of the mailbox. Well, now that we have everything, we can go back home."

The front door opened and Kate stepped outside, her nostrils flaring angrily, "No, you can give me my mail and get off my property."

"I told you to be quieter, Jan." Sami said, stepping away from Kate.

"You two?" Kate sputtered, her eyes flashing with contempt when she saw Sami and Nicole, "What are you up to now?"

"We're not up to anything." Jan answered for them, crumpling the diary entry into a little ball. Kate noticed and turned her attention back to Jan.

"That's mine. You can't steal my mail!" Kate yelled in outrage, flinging herself at Jan and trying to pry the note out of her hands. Jan scrambled a few feet out of her reach and quickly stuck crumpled up of ball of paper in her mouth. Kate let out of disgusted shriek but gave up on trying to get the paper.

"I'm glad you didn't let her get the note but I really think there were better ways to get the note away from her, Jan." Nicole commented. Jan's mouth was too full of paper to answer.

"I should call the police. What were you guys doing going through my mailbox?" Kate demanded.

Nicole smiled winningly, calmer now that the danger of Kate finding the note had passed, "Jan was being a very bad girl tonight. She was going through Lucas' things and she found this dirty, dirty note that Sami had written him. Jan decided you'd like a copy of it, so she put it your mailbox and then we came to get it back because we decided you shouldn't see it. It's kind of X-rated and we didn't think you could handle it."

"She could handle anything after her previous job." Sami mumbled.

"You were sending my son dirty notes!" Kate screamed, "Dear Lord, what is this world coming to?"

"I was not." Sami shot back, "Nicole's lying."

"We have to go now." Jan said, after spitting the piece of paper out, "I don't feel very good."

"Good, I hope you die of ink poisoning." Sami said nastily as she, Jan and Nicole walked back to the car, leaving Kate standing outside the front door of her home.

Once Nicole had started driving, Jan spoke up, "There's only ninety-nine papers accounted for. There's one other one you guys didn't pick up yet."

Nicole slammed on the brakes, "Where is it?"

"I put the last one in an envelope with Lucas' name on it and taped it to your door." Jan muttered, trying to hide a smile.

Sami and Nicole groaned, "That was the person we wanted to keep that information away from the most. How could you wait so long to tell us?" Nicole asked.

"I didn't think it mattered." Jan lied.

Sami let out of a disgusted sigh and turned to Nicole, "You or me?"

"Go ahead." Sami nodded and smacked Jan hard. Jan gave an enraged yelp and rubbed the back of her head.

"Why does everyone always hit me?"

"Because you need to be hit." Nicole arrived back at the apartment building and Sami jumped out of the car. Before she left, she turned back to Jan, "If I ever catch you anywhere near my apartment again, I will not hesitate to hit you again. And maybe next time, I'll use a baseball bat."

Sami rushed up to her apartment and prayed that the envelope would still be on the door. But when she finally got up to her apartment, there was no envelope in sight. Sami knew that meant Lucas, or even worse, Brady, had already read the note. Feeling defeated, Sami stepped into her apartment to find Lucas sitting on the couch. With a white scrap of paper in his hands.

He stood up when he saw her and cleared his throat nervously. Sami remained standing in the doorway, her eyes trained on the piece of paper he was holding.

Lucas noted the expression on her face and spoke cautiously, "I guess you know what this is."

"Unfortunately."

"This means that you've felt it all along too." Lucas looked upset, "For a while, I had actually thought you didn't feel the same way I did. But now I know you do feel the same way and that you've just been hiding it. Why, Sami?"

Sami shifted uncomfortably, "I don't want to talk about this. Not right now and not any other time."

"Why?" he repeated, "Sami, you have to tell me what you want me to do. Because I don't know where you're coming from. I understand why you wouldn't want to force anything. But you don't have to push it away either."

Sami felt herself weakening. The sincere look in his eyes and the soft, warm sound of his voice was overpowering. She knew there was no way she could back out and say she didn't feel anything for him. He knew how she felt. And she knew that he cared about her. She took a step towards him and lifted her head to meet his eyes. For a second, she forgot all about Brady, Nicole and everyone else. It was only her and Lucas standing there, with their lips inches apart.

Then everything came crashing back to her. She couldn't risk it. She wouldn't let Brady find out. She stepped away from him and her eyes filled up with tears of frustration.

"We cannot have this conversation. I'm sorry." Sami brushed past him, retreating to her bedroom before she could see the hurt and confused look that flickered briefly across Lucas' face when she walked away.


	15. Honey NC17

Chapter Fifteen

Sami opened her eyes and sat up in her bed, sensing there was someone else in her room. She let out a startled cry when she noticed Bart sitting at the foot of her bed. She recovered from the shock and abruptly pulled her blankets over herself, throwing a murderous glare at Bart.

"Who let you in? You don't just walk into someone's bedroom in the middle of the night!" Sami fumed.

Bart had an amused expression on his face, "There's no reason to get your panties in a bunch, Miss Brady. I only came because I thought you needed help from the Advice Guy."

"Well, I don't." Sami snapped, "You advice didn't even work the last time."

Bart looked offended, "Of course it worked! You just didn't listen to the coin like you were supposed to."

"Excuse me?"

"You were supposed to forget about the money and tell Lucas you're in love with him." Bart explained patiently, "But instead, you gave up because Brady wouldn't let you call off the bet."

Wondering how Bart knew all this, Sami shook her head, "You don't understand. If I lose the bet, I have to marry Brady. I can't let that happen because then I will lose Lucas."

"Sami, Sami, Sami." Bart sighed, "You can't let this bet stop you from being with Lucas. You're going to drive him away if you keep confusing him. You know, if you were careful about things, there is a way you could keep the money and still be with Lucas."

"How?"

"You're a smart girl, Sami. You can figure it out." Bart extended his hand and handed something to Sami, "In the meantime, flip the coin. Heads you seduce Lucas and tails you don't."

Sami flipped the coin, which landed on heads. Bart smiled encouragingly, "Trying flipping it again." Sami flipped it several more times and each time, the coin landed on heads. Sami examined the coin closer, then looked up at Bart in confusion.

"Both sides of this coin are heads." 

Bart laughed, "That's how I know the coin is right."

Sami woke up from the dream with a start, looking around for signs of anyone in her room. To her immense relief, Bart was nowhere to be seen. She remembered the dream and rolled over in her bed, thinking about it. As her eyes grew adjusted to the darkness, she thought about Lucas lying in the next room. On that mattress, in his boxers. And Bart was right. If Brady didn't know anything was going on, then she could still win the bet. And he certainly wasn't going to catch Lucas and Sami doing anything at- Sami squinted to make out the time on the clock- four in the morning.

She flung her blankets off and pulled herself out of the bed, "Besides, I can't disobey the coin. The coin never lies." she mocked Bart under her breath. She stepped out into the living room and flicked on a small lamp next to the couch. Lucas was lying on his stomach and his blankets had fallen down below his waist. One arm was stuffed underneath his pillow while the other hung off the side of the mattress. Sami smiled at the position he was sleeping in, a position that would give her easy access to his most lethal erogenous zone.

Before going over to him, Sami made her way into the kitchen. She found what she was looking for in the cupboard and went back over to Lucas. She sat down next to Lucas on the mattress and set the bottle down beside the mattress, where Lucas wouldn't be able to see it. Her heart was pounding with anticipation as she slowly traced a line up Lucas' back with her fingertips. She had wanted to do this for the longest time.

Sami placed a kiss on the flawless, tanned skin just above the line of his boxers. Her lips inched their way up his back and Lucas reacted to her touch a lot faster than she had expected him to. He stirred in his sleep and let out a little moan. This is did nothing to detour Sami, instead she brought her tongue into play, licking a deliberately slow and sensuous trail up Lucas' back.

Lucas groaned and turned his head to one side to see Sami leaning over him. His mind took a little bit longer to wake up then his body did. He lifted his head and looked at her in confusion.

"Am I dreaming?" he asked, his voice still groggy from sleep.

Sami only smiled in return, then continued kissing his back. He shuddered as her tongue continued sweeping along his skin. God, as good as his fantasies had been, they were never this intense or this vivid. This was real, Sami was actually there.

"Dammit, you know my erogenous zone, don't you?" Lucas demanded, "How did you find out?"

"Nicole told me." Sami answered, "After she almost told us where it was in the bathroom that one night, I was too curious to stop myself from asking her."

"That's an unfair advantage." Lucas rolled over so he was facing Sami, "You know my erogenous zone and I don't know yours."

The look Sami gave him was both flirtatious and seductive, "I guess you're just going to have to find it then."

Before Lucas could find the right words to respond to that sentence with, Sami was kissing him. She slanted their mouths together and pulled him into a searing kiss. Memories of what had went on earlier with the diary entry were forgotten as Sami let Lucas coax her lips apart with his tongue and devoured her. Sami threaded her hands through his hair, pressing her body against Lucas' chest, her fingers tracing a path up and down his back. The material of Sami's nightgown was so thin, it felt almost like a skin-on-skin contact to Lucas.

Sami pulled her mouth away from his a lot sooner than Lucas would have liked. She then began kissing the rest of his face, not leaving a single inch of his face unattended. Between this and her actions in the limo, Lucas didn't know what had gotten into the usually more reserved Sami but he liked it. He liked it a lot.

But that was the problem. She had been so much more reserved the past month. And earlier that same night, she had refused to talk to him about her feelings.

"Sami, we can't." Lucas stopped her, "You keep going from hot to cold and I don't know how much more I can take. You have to make a choice before we go any further."

"I know." Sami took a deep breath, "I've been awful to you for the past little while. I've been confusing you and I've even been confusing myself. But I know what I want now."

"Which is?" Lucas held his breath, hoping to get the answer the wanted to hear.

"You." Sami finished, one gentle persuasive hand smoothing over the contours on his chest, "I want to make up for the last month to you, Lucas. But you have to close your eyes."

Sami exhaled with satisfaction when he did as she asked. She retrieved her bottle from the floor and made sure Lucas still had his eyes closed. Then she began drizzling the sweet, sticky substance all over Lucas' bare chest. Once she had finished, she set the bottle back down and lowered her head. Her tongue darted out, licking the first bit of honey off of his chest. Her tongue continued making slow, languorous strokes along his taut stomach muscles and she smiled to herself as she felt his breathing speed up.

Sami finished with his stomach and moved up his torso, laving away the honey from his chest. She tongued one nipple playfully and the groan she withdrew from Lucas after the contact provoked her to do it again with his other nipple, surrendering to all of her lascivious desires. She lapped away the final traces of honey from his chest, the syrupy sweetness of the substance mingling with the faint saltiness of Lucas' skin to create an exquisite, addictive combination.

"You can open your eyes now." Sami whispered, leaning down and planting a soft kiss on his lips. When her mouth lingered on his, Lucas deepened the kiss. His tongue ran along the outline of her mouth before he plunged inside her, savouring the taste of honey that remained in her mouth. Imprisoning her in his arms, he continued kissing her forcefully. She snaked her arms around his neck, their bodies flush against each other. Breathing hard, Lucas pulled away.

"I think it's my turn to do that to you now." Sami shivered at the hot, resonant tone of his voice. Still cradling Sami's body in his arms, Lucas pressed her down against his pillows. Eager fingers pushed the straps of Sami's nightgown off her shoulders and eased the silk nightgown down her body. With a final, impatient tug, the nightgown was gone and nothing stood between Lucas and the object of his desire.

Lucas was silent for a moment, mesmerized by the creamy skin of Sami's voluptuous body, "Do you have any idea how tasty you look?" Lucas asked after a moment, "I could just eat you right now."

"Go ahead." Sami's eyes danced with excitement, "Eat me."

Lucas chuckled at the bold remark and found the bottle of honey. Giving her the same instructions she had given him, he waited until her eyes were closed. Honey oozed out of the tip of the bottle, covering Sami's skin. Lucas couldn't resist licking his lips after he had finished, imagining how good that soft, supple skin would feel against his mouth. Not wanting to wait a second longer, he began licking the honey off of her. He began at her lower stomach, taking his time with leisurely sweeps with his tongue and light, teasing brushes with his lips.

"Oh, God, Lucas." the sensual torment was almost unbearable and she fisted the sheets in her hands when his tongue dipped inside her navel. He moved away from her stomach and his tongue ran along the outer curve of her right breast, moving closer to the hard peak of her nipple at a torturously slow pace. He finally washed away the honey from the swollen bud, then took her between his teeth, sucking lightly. Sami arched upwards, pushing more of herself into his mouth.

His mouth made it's way down the valley between her breasts, then came back up to begin laving the honey off of her left breast. The ache between the thighs only intensified as Lucas fastened his mouth to her left nipple and licked it clean. She wanted him to touch her there so badly and she knew he could sense it. He reached for the bottle of honey again and his hands moved deftly between her legs, briefly caressing her before parting her sensitive folds and letting the honey drip down into her center. Sami couldn't resist crying out when the cool liquid hit her heated flesh, then remembered who was next door and her cries receded into whimpers.

He drew his mouth down to her core, his tongue cleaning her sheath free of honey. He angled his tongue so he could lap up every bit of the sweetness, tasting her. Waves of pleasure washed over her as his tongue swirled around her clit, causing her breaths to come out in rapid pants. She finally felt the highest point of pleasure overtake her as she came. Her body went limp and it took her a few minutes to catch her breath. Finally, she stood up, looking at Lucas expectantly.

"Do you want to come?" she asked him.

Lucas grinned at her, "Now that's a tempting offer."

Sami rolled her eyes but couldn't resist giggling, "I meant, do you want to come in the shower with me?"

"We could have done it out here but if you'd rather do it in there, that's fine too."

"You're impossible. It's just that, we're a little sticky right now." Sami explained, tilting her head and eyeing him impatiently, "Are you going to c- join me or not?"

Lucas stood up and followed Sami into the bathroom, leaving the almost empty bottle of honey lying next to the mattress.


	16. Note To Self: Jeans Are Evil

Chapter Sixteen

Lucas stepped into his apartment and yelled to see if Nicole was there. Nicole came prancing out of his bedroom in a mini-skirt and a skimpy t-shirt. Nicole saw the triumphant expression on Lucas' face and scowled. She could just about guess what had happened. After last night with that diary entry, you had to see it coming. She was going to kill Jan for this.

"Hand over the keys to your car, Nicole." Lucas smirked at her, "I won the bet."

"Really?" Nicole crossed her arms over her chest, "Are you sure about that?"

"Of course I'm sure." Lucas thought about the night before and couldn't stop himself from smiling, "You have to keep it a secret but Sami admitted she wants me. She just wants us to keep our feelings for each other a secret for a little while. She's afraid of how people in Salem are going to react. But I still won so give me the car."

"Right." Nicole looked unconvinced, "What would Sami do if I went over and told her you think that the two of you are involved in some kind of secret intimate relationship? She'd probably scream at you and say you're a delusional freak. Because I honestly don't believe a word you're saying. I think you just want my car."

"It's the truth." Lucas shot back angrily. There's no other explanation for her waking me up at four in the morning to lick honey off me. Besides, she said she wants it to happen again, Lucas thought to himself, "And you're not saying a word to Sami because then I'm going to tell Brady that you only want him to have sex with you so you can win a bet. Then he'd never sleep with you."

"You bastard!" Nicole sputtered indignantly, then remembered something and grinned, "Besides, even if your little story about you and Sami secretly being together is true, you still wouldn't win."

"What are you talking about?" Lucas demanded, "The bet was, I had to get Sami to admit her feelings for me by May. It isn't May yet, so I've won."

"Wrong!" Nicole flung at him, "I specifically remember saying that she has to be publicly affectionate with you. So having dirty little in-the-closet encounters doesn't cut it. Although, with someone like you, it's understandable why she'd want to keep it a secret."

"You did say that, didn't you?" Lucas thought back to the night they had made the bet, "That's not a problem either. Sami just wants us to be secretive for a little while, so we can sort some things out. I still have a month."

"It's not going to happen." Nicole sneered at him, "You're making all of this up. Sami doesn't even like you."

Lucas glared at her, "Note to self: do not make bets with Nicole. She cheats."

"Note to self," Nicole mocked his tone of voice, "Lucas is a pussy."

Lucas opened his mouth to throw back an equally nasty comeback, then decided against it, "What's wrong with you? Did you get your period or something? Or is Brady still rejecting you?"

"Shut up." Nicole grumbled, "Pussy."

Irritated at her for calling him that, Lucas shook his head, "I'm not going to lower myself to your childish name-calling level. I'm leaving."

"Suit yourself. Pussy." she couldn't resist adding cheekily, especially after seeing how much it pissed Lucas off when she called him that. Lucas left the apartment just as Brady was coming inside. Lucas turned around, looked at Brady and then winked at Nicole. Determination begin eating away at Nicole's insides when she saw the arrogant look on Lucas' face. He really didn't think she could get Brady. And Lucas couldn't be more wrong because Nicole knew she could do it.

Once Lucas had left the apartment, Nicole sauntered over to Brady. She came up to him from behind and wrapped her arms around him, "It's about time you got back." she whispered, her breath hot against his ear. Brady felt every part of his body tense and stiffen. Her hands found their way underneath his shirt and she rubbed her hands against the bare skin of his chest.

Brady knew he was slowly yielding to the sensations Nicole could create with her expert hands and mouth. This wasn't the first time she had done something like this but every time she began touching him, it got harder to push her away.

He turned around and pushed her arms away from him, "Nicole, don't. I do not want to do this."

"You're lying." Nicole stated bluntly, "I can tell that you do. You just keep running away from it. But you want to make love to me, Brady, I can see it in the way your eyes glaze over when you look at me and I can feel your body's reaction when I touch you. There's no reason to run from this. It's inevitable. You're a sexually repressed guy, Brady. If it's not me, it's going to be someone else. You're going to give in to it anyways, so why not with a woman who wants you, who needs you in her life?"

"Nicole, you don't know what you're saying." Brady said weakly, "I can't let myself give in."

"Brady, you're too smart to hold back because of limitations that aren't there." Nicole knew she was so close to getting him to give in. She pulled him onto the couch with her and wrapped her arms around him. She drew them into a kiss and she knew she had him. He wasn't going to fight her anymore. It was a matter of minutes before he had his shirt off. Nicole watched as he removed his belt, then popped open the button on his jeans.

Brady reached down to unzip his fly, but to his mortification, the zipper was stuck. He pulled on it harder but it still wouldn't budge. Shit, he thought to himself, tugging at it as hard as he could. He looked up at Nicole and gave her a humourless smile.

"The zipper is stuck." he explained.

"Let me try." Nicole began pulling on the zipper. When it still wouldn't come down, she began yanking on it aggressively. Making a disgruntled noise, she stood up and walked into the kitchen. She came back with a container of butter and a roll of paper towels. Sitting back down, slid a paper towel covered in butter along the teeth of the fly. The zipper finally glided down easily but by that time, Brady was freaking out. He was so close to losing the bet and that couldn't happen.

In his hurry to stand up he ended up falling off the couch. Grabbing his shirt and his belt, he began dressing himself while Nicole watched in confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked, trying to keep fear from creeping into her voice.

"It's a sign." Brady said gravely, "The zipper wouldn't go down because I know I'm not supposed to be doing this."

"It was a crappy zipper!" Nicole exclaimed angrily, "Don't give me that shit about it being a sign. That is so stupid. You know you want to be with me."

"I have to go." Nicole watched Brady rush out of the apartment and pounded her fist against the couch cushion. Getting off the couch, she went into the kitchen and found the two large bottles of vodka she had been keeping stashed under the sink. She opened the first bottle and downed half of the bottle in a matter of minutes. Then she took both bottles back into the living room, already beginning to lurch around drunkenly.

"Note to self: Jeans are evil. I must destroy them." with that, Nicole walked into Lucas' bedroom to find all of Brady's jeans.

Lucas threw the newspaper down and looked over at the apartment door curiously. Sami had left to go talk to Nicole about something about twenty minutes ago. She had said it was only going to take five minutes. Lucas frowned and started towards the door.

"Can they not go two minutes in the same room without killing each other?" Lucas muttered, chuckling to himself as he envisioned Nicole and Sami engaging in an all-out cat-fight. Actually, that could end up being kind of hot.....

He opened the door to find Sami and Nicole sitting on the floor, surrounded by scraps of cut up denim. Both Sami and Nicole were holding up pairs of jeans and using scissors to slice them into smaller pieces.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lucas roared angrily, "Those had better not be my clothes you're destroying."

"Don't worry, they're Brady's." Sami assured him, tossing another scrap of denim to the side.

Nicole was humming to herself as she mutilated the pair of jeans further with her scissors, "No more jeans for Brady." she sang to herself, "Then nothing will be in the way."

"What is she talking about?" Lucas asked Sami, deciding that Nicole was already too drunk to give him a proper answer, judging from the empty liquor bottles.

"She and Brady were going to have sex. Then Brady's zipper got stuck and he ran away." Sami looked pretty pissed off about this herself, even though Lucas could not figure out why.

"And it never would have happened if he was wearing sweatpants!" Nicole added, reaching for another pair of jeans, "And that's all he's going to wear now." suddenly, she flung the jeans down and let out a frustrated groan, "Why won't he sleep with me? Is it because I don't have enough cleavage? Or is it because he thinks I'm an insane Barbie doll?" she glowered at Lucas as she said those last words, letting him know who she held partly responsible for her failure to get Brady into bed with her.

Sami handed Nicole the pair of jeans she had been cutting up, "It's okay, Nicole. This is the last pair of jeans. After this, Lucas can help us clean up and we can burn them. And don't worry, you'll get Brady to have sex with you soon."

"No, she's won't." Lucas spoke up confidently, receiving angry looks from both Sami and Nicole.

"Yes, I will." Nicole retorted as she slashed the remaining bits left of the jeans into smaller pieces. Sami got to her feet and went into Lucas' kitchen to find a garbage bag. Not wanting to get into another childish argument with Nicole, Lucas resigned to helping Nicole pick up the jeans while Sami held the bag open. Lucas could not figure out why Sami was helping Nicole but he decided it wasn't worth fighting about. Not when he and Sami were getting along so well. Besides, if he was going to get Sami to go public with their relationship before May, then he was going to have to turn his charm on full force. 


	17. How To Drive Lucas Crazy In A Moving Veh...

Chapter Seventeen

The car in front of Lucas' vehicle couldn't have been going any faster than thirty miles per hour and Sami resisted the urge to roll down her window and yell at the driver. But she couldn't do that because it wasn't the old lady's fault she was miserable. That was Brady's fault. If Brady hadn't overheard Lucas and Sami making plans with Jennifer to take Abby and Will on a zoo trip, then she and Lucas would be alone in this car right now. But Brady had overheard the conversation and had promptly announced that he and Nicole were coming with them.

Sami knew she could have told Brady he couldn't come but then she knew Brady would have read too much into it and thought Sami wanted to be alone with Lucas. She didn't want him getting any more suspicious because then he would start acting like more of a stalker than he already was. He had already been following Lucas and Sami everywhere and hadn't given them a moment of piece.

And now he was singing at the top of his lungs, along to some country song he obviously didn't know the words to.

"Yeah, I've got friends in low places. Where the beer drowns and the whiskey chases my blues away. And it'll be okay." Brady bellowed out, not even noticing the way Sami, Lucas and Nicole were all wincing.

"God, be quiet. You're not even singing it right." Lucas slammed his fist against the steering wheel, accidentally beeping the horn in the process. The old lady in front of them slammed on her brakes, causing Lucas to do the same. Sighing, Lucas picked up his bottle of coke, then realized it was now half-empty.

"Who's been drinking this?" Lucas demanded.

"Not me." Nicole said cheerfully, then turned to Brady, "See, I told you it was possible to get high off of nail polish remover."

"You got him high off of nail polish remover?" Sami asked incredulously, "Well, thanks, now we all have to suffer."

"Lucas, I have to go the bathroom." Nicole whined suddenly, shifting uncomfortably.

"Me too!" Brady added, in a voice that made him sound like a little kid.

"We just left twenty minutes ago. Why didn't you go before?" Lucas asked.

"I wouldn't have to go if I hadn't drank your pop. So, it's your fault." Nicole told him.

"I hope you pee your pants." Brady spoke up.

"She better not." Lucas pulled into a gas station and stopped his car, "Okay, both of you get out and hurry up." Sami could tell he was quickly running out of patience and felt another twinge of regret for letting Nicole and Brady come on the trip. She touched Lucas' arm and looked at him apologetically.

"I shouldn't have said they could come." she said, "Maybe once we get to the zoo, the two of us can go off with Will, Abby and Jennifer while Brady and Nicole will go off in another direction."

Lucas leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, "I hope so. I don't know how much more I can take of Brady when he's high."

A few minutes later, Brady and Nicole emerged, carrying food. Nicole had a package of twinkies and Brady had a package of powdered donuts. They got into Lucas' car and Lucas gave Brady a look that threatened bodily harm, "You better not make a mess of my seats with those or you're cleaning this whole car."

Brady took a big bite of the first donut, getting powder all over his sweatpants (which Nicole had picked out for him to wear after getting him high) and all over his face. He ignored Lucas as he continued eating. Nicole set her twinkies down on the seat next to her and stared out the window.

Brady saw what she was looking at and grinned, "Hey, a hitchhiker. Can we pick her up, Lucas? Please?"

"Are you crazy? She could be an insane murderer that wants to kill us all." Sami contradicted Brady.

"Yeah, but she could also be a hooker that wants to get it on with me." obviously the effects of the nail polish remover had still not worn off. Sami watched Brady grab the twinkies and open the package. Nicole didn't even notice.

"We already have enough hookers in this car, Brady. It's bad enough we have to put up with Nicole." Lucas responded.

"Haha." Nicole said sarcastically.

"Oh, come on, don't pass her." Brady complained, "Man, you're stupid. You just missed the chance to pick up a free hooker."

"Hookers aren't free." Lucas eyed Nicole in the review mirror, "Just ask Nicole."

"Shut up." Nicole noticed that her twinkies were missing and let out an enraged squeal, "Who stole my twinkies? They were the only good thing left in my life, who did this to me?"

This caused Lucas to burst out laughing.

"It isn't funny. Stop laughing, Lucas, I will unleash my anger upon you. Hey, you're the one that ate my food, aren't you? You thought you could get revenge on me for drinking your coke, is that it? Oh, you are so going to pay for this."

Sami watched with a mixture of amusement and indignation as Nicole turned rabid on her lover and the father of her child.

"Nicole, ow! I'm trying to drive, you're going to get us into an accident. Someone get her away from me, she's biting me!" Brady pulled Nicole away from Lucas and Lucas rubbed his neck, giving Nicole a dirty look.

"Oh, you're such a baby." Sami said, "She couldn't have bit you that hard." she pulled his hand away from his neck and spotted the two indentations Nicole had made with her teeth.

"You practically broke the skin, Nicole. What were you trying to do, draw blood?" Sami asked, her fingers lightly brushing along the mark.

"Well, now we all know the truth. She's a vampire. At least that gives her an excuse for being so evil." Lucas said, trying to ignore his body's immediate reaction to Sami's light touch. Laughing a little bit, he looked at Sami, "You want to kiss it better, Sami?"

Sami jerked her fingers away from his neck, "In your dreams." she mumbled. Even though he knew it was just for show, her words still hurt. Lucas quickly brushed the hurt aside and leered at her.

"You are, actually." Lucas shot back, enjoying the way she squirmed uncomfortably. Brady mumbled something under his breath, it sounded like he said something about losing a bed. Sami turned to smile innocently at him.

"What was that, Brady? You ate Nicole's twinkies?" Sami lowered her eyes down to the floor of the car, where Nicole's twinkie wrapper lay next to Brady's feet.

Nicole noticed this too and growled at Brady. Before Brady could stop her, she pounced on him and began screaming at him for eating her twinkies.

Now that both Nicole and Brady were distracted, Sami brought her fingers back up to Lucas' neck. When they stopped at a red light, Lucas pulled her hand away from his neck and brought it up to his lips. After pressing a brief kiss into the middle of her opened palm, he silently mouthed the words, 'I love you'. Sami beamed at him and once the light turned green and Lucas was driving again, she leaned over and planted a series of kisses along his neck, momentarily oblivious to that fact that Nicole was still in the backseat with Brady, trying to hospitalise him.

"Does it feel better now?" she asked in a low, throaty voice. Lucas squeezed her hand in response.

"Why didn't you help me get away from Nicole?" Brady demanded after several more minutes had gone by, "Do you realize I now have Nicole's teeth marks in places Nicole's teeth were never meant to be?"

"Do you realize that no one cares?" Lucas snapped, silencing Brady. Brady glared at the back of Lucas' head. Then he began sprinkling leftover sugar from his powdered donuts into Lucas' hair. Lucas was too busy driving to notice and Sami and Nicole just looked at Brady like he was crazy. But he wasn't crazy, just high.

After covering the top of Lucas' dark hair with sugar, Brady broke the silence, "You should really do something about that, Lucas."

"About what?"

"You've got a serious dandruff problem. One that needs professional assistance." Brady added.

Lucas ran his hands through his hair and frowned when he saw how much white stuff came out of his hair, "What the hell happened? I never had this problem before."

"It's sugar, dumbass." Nicole told him, "Brady put it in your hair. If you had a brain, you would have figured that out right away."

"Bite me." Lucas shot back, brushing white powder out of his hair.

"Don't tempt her, Lucas." Brady warned, "She's deadly."

"And if you ever touch my hair again, I am going to kill you!" Lucas roared, taking his empty coke bottle and flinging it behind him. It hit Brady in the side of the head and bounced off his head uselessly.

Sami looked at Lucas sympathetically. She could understand exactly why he was losing it. Brady and Nicole had seemed to make it their unconscious mission to drive both her and Lucas crazy. The powdered sugar had been the last straw for Lucas.

"It's okay, Lucas." Sami said, brushing sugar out of his hair, "Look, we're pulling into the parking lot right now. You're going to be fine." the sugar felt sticky against her hands but she didn't care. When Brady was pretty much following her everywhere, she would jump at any chance to run her fingers through Lucas' hair. Actually, she'd jump at the chance to be able to have any physical contact with Lucas that wouldn't make Brady suspicious.

Lucas found a parking spot near Jennifer's car. Before getting out of the car, Lucas turned around to look at Brady and Nicole.

"You two," he began in a deadly quiet voice, "Are going to find another ride home because there is no way you're coming back in my car."

He got out of the car and spotted Jennifer, Will and Abby standing near the entrance to the zoo. Sami came around to his side of the car and the two of them started towards Will, Abby and Jennifer, not even waiting for Nicole and Brady to catch up.


	18. Reptile Houses And Sprained Ankles

Chapter Eighteen

Lucas looked over his shoulder for a moment and groaned, "Why are they still here?" he asked, just loud enough for Sami and Jennifer to hear. Brady and Nicole were a few feet behind them, fighting over which llama resembled Lucas the most.

"You've been really grumpy at them all day." Jennifer observed, "What did they do to you?"

Nicole and Brady came up to three of them just in time to hear Jennifer's question, "We did a whole bunch of stuff." Nicole laughed, "Brady and I could probably write a book. A hundred and one ways to annoy Lucas in a moving vehicle."

"It's more like a hundred and one ways to annoy Lucas no matter where you are. And by the way, there's still some powder in your hair." Brady added.

Lucas started trying to fix his hair again and Nicole rolled her eyes, "He's just trying to piss you off, Lucas. There's nothing left in your hair. God, you're gullible. Not to mention vain."

Oh, but he has plenty to be vain about, Sami thought, wondering how he could still look so gorgeous in something as plain as a t-shirt and jeans. To start off with, you had that athletic, tanned body, the one she had recently had the pleasure of exploring as thoroughly as she wanted. Then there was that thick, dark hair, those devilish brown eyes and every well-defined angle of his face. And she really didn't want to start thinking about her favourite part of his anatomy because then she might do something she would regret.

Will and Abby, who had been walking a few feet in front them, turned around and eyed the adults impatiently.

"You guys are so slow." Will complained, "Can we go inside the reptile house next? I heard they have a really excellent snake exhibit." Will watched his parents out of the corner of his eye, gauging their reaction as he remembered how he had put that snake in their tent on the camping trip.

Sami looked unenthusiastic at the prospect, "I think I'll just wait outside for you guys. Those reptile houses always smell really gross. I hope you all have fun though."

"I don't think it has anything to do with the smell." Will grinned knowingly, "I think you just don't like snakes."

Lucas and Sami fell behind the rest of the group and Sami murmured in agreement, "There's only one snake I enjoy spending time with and his name is Goliath." Sami whispered to Lucas, gleefully noting the way he reddened slightly in response.

They reached the reptile house and Lucas cleared his throat loudly, "I think I'll, um, wait outside with Sami. We'll just walk around to the other side and meet you guys at the exit."

"You don't have to do that, Lucas." Sami pretended to be disgusted but her eyes flashed mischievously, "I'm perfectly capable of waiting for you guys by myself."

"I just don't want you to get lost." Lucas shot back, taking hold of her shoulders and steering her around one side of the building, "Come on, let's go to the other side of the building."

"Lucas, don't touch me!" Sami shrieked loud enough for Brady and Nicole to hear. But once they were standing off to the left of the Reptile house's exit, she slid her arms around his shoulders and caressed the nape of his neck, "We're finally alone. How ever are we going to occupy ourselves now?"

Lucas smirked at the playful tone in her voice, "I have a few ideas in mind."

"Me too." Sami whispered, drawing his mouth down to hers. Her lips parted eagerly and Lucas slipped his tongue inside her mouth, savouring the velvety softness he found there. Sami felt her knees weaken under the gentle probing of his tongue and if it hadn't been for the way she was clinging to Lucas, she knew her feet would have given out on her. No matter how many times Lucas kissed her, he always seemed to have this effect on her.

Finally she pulled away, "Lucas, we can't do this here. If we keep going, we're going to end up getting arrested."

Lucas sighed, "I know. I wish we could tell everyone the truth though."

Sami looked up at him nervously, "You know why we can't. Everyone would complicate things for us and we don't need that right now."

"I wouldn't care what anyone else thought." Lucas told her, "This isn't about them. This is about you and it's about me. Does everyone else's opinion really matter to you that much when we feel this way about each other?"

"Yes." Sami said in a small voice, "I know it shouldn't matter but it does. Can we just keep it secret for a little longer?"

"If that's what you want. I just want you to be happy." Lucas told her, pushing his bet with Nicole out of his mind. If he didn't want to lose Sami, he was going to have to be patient.

"In the meantime, I wish it wasn't so hard for me to keep my hands off of you." he added in a low voice. One hand pressed into the small of her back while the other tilted her chin so that he could lean down and kiss her again.

"What the hell?" Sami started when Brady's voice interrupted Lucas' attempt to kiss her. She turned and saw Brady and Nicole looking at her and Lucas in shock. Sami bit her lip to keep from screaming. Lately, Brady never failed to destroy opportunities for romantic moments between her and Lucas and she was getting sick of it. Besides, she didn't know how she was supposed to get out of this one. One of Lucas' hands was resting on her back and the other held her face while her own hands were pressed against his chest.

Thinking quickly, she lifted one foot off the ground and forced herself to look like she was in pain, "I can't believe I'm always so clumsy. I think I just sprained my ankle."

Lucas caught on to what she was doing right away and looked over at Brady and Nicole to see if they believed her, "See, even the idea of snakes gets her so worked up she can't walk straight. Here, Sami, let's take a look." he knelt down and slipped his hands underneath the pant leg of her jeans.

Sami held onto Lucas' shoulders to keep her balance while his fingers massaged her ankle. She faked a moan, "Lucas, ow, that hurts."

Lucas stood up and shook his head, "It's pretty swollen. I don't think you're going to be able to walk on it."

Without another word, he scooped Sami off the ground, ignoring her strangled cry of protest, "Lucas, put me down! I don't need your help!"

"Don't be stubborn, Sami. You know you can't walk and you do need my help, whether you're willing to admit it or not."

"God, you make me sick." Sami glared at him, "Why don't you just throw me over your shoulders and carry me around caveman style?" she saw the devilish look in his eyes and quickly added, "Don't even think about it."

Will, Abby and Jennifer stepped out of the reptile house and noticed Lucas carrying Sami, "Dad, what are you doing to mom?" Will asked.

"She sprained her ankle and she can't walk." Lucas explained.

"So, you're just going to carry her around the zoo for the rest of the day?" Nicole asked in disbelief. But Sami could tell by the looks on their faces that both Brady and Nicole had bought her sprained ankle story. Thank God.

"I guess I don't have any other choice." Lucas replied with fake reluctance as Sami wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Maybe you should take mom home." Will suggested, looking somewhat excited about the idea of his parents leaving the zoo together, "It probably won't be very fun for the two of you now that mom sprained her ankle."

"But, Will, we planned this trip so we could spend time with you." Lucas countered, "I don't think we should leave early."

"I don't mind, dad, honest." Will said quickly, "We can do something else another time, after mom's ankle gets better."

"What do you think, Sami?" Lucas turned to Sami to see what she wanted to do.

"My ankle is really sore." Sami lied, "I think it would be for the best if we just went home."

"As long as you're sure you don't mind, Will." Lucas turned back to his son for confirmation.

"Not at all." Will promised. Lucas and Sami said good-bye to Jennifer, Will and Abby, then Lucas began carrying Sami back over to his car, ignoring Brady and Nicole's complaints about not having a ride.

Once inside the car, Sami sighed with relief, "Faking a sprained ankle is going to suck but at least Brady was too stupid to realize what was going on."

Lucas fell silent as he started the drive back towards their apartment building. He knew Sami wasn't intentionally trying to upset him but she was. She seemed so determined to keep their relationship a secret. And from the sounds of things, she wasn't going to give in and tell everyone what was going on between them anytime soon.

Okay, she was probably still scared. He was even a little bit scared to admit their feelings to everyone. But they could both be very brave when they wanted to be so they could handle that. It was also a very vulnerable position to put themselves in with the people of Salem. But that shouldn't matter because they trusted each other, maybe not everyone in Salem but each other and that's what should have been important. But if Sami didn't want to tell people, then he wouldn't tell anyone, even if it meant not winning the car. Because he knew, no matter how much money that car was worth, Sami was worth more than any car would ever be. Although, it would still be nice if he didn't have to make a choice and could somehow end up with both Sami and the car.

"Lucas?" Lucas turned to look at Sami, who looked concerned, "Are you okay?"

Lucas tried push away his previous thoughts, "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just look upset. Like something's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong."

Sami wasn't buying it, "Did I do something?"

Lucas cradled that back of her neck with his free hand and kissed her reassuringly on the lips, "You didn't do anything. I promise, I'm fine."

"I'm probably just being paranoid. But I still can't help wondering when something's going to go wrong." Sami confessed, "I'm scared that someone is going to mess things up for us. I'm scared that I'm going to lose you."

Lucas eased the hand on Sami's neck down to rub slow, comforting circles on her back, "You won't lose me." he promised, "I would never leave you, not feeling the way I do. You're everything to me, Sami, I love you. You know that, right?"

"Yes." Sami said softly, leaning into Lucas' arm. She wished she could always be so open about her feelings with Lucas. He always had a way of making everything seem so much better. If only she could tell him about the bet she had made with Brady and why no one could know about how they felt. She could tell that was what was bothering him, even if he wouldn't admit it. But she only had just over three weeks of the bet to go. Then she and Lucas could finally reveal their feelings for each other to everyone.


	19. Who Do You Think You Are: Nicole?

Chapter Nineteen

Lucas finished putting his laundry in the washing machine and was about to turn around and leave the laundry room, when Nicole came storming in. Yes, he had seen her pissed off before but tonight she looked mad enough to kill someone. Her face was a violent dark red colour and her eyes were flashing angrily. She was so busy mumbling under her breath that she didn't notice Lucas watching her until she was throwing stuff into a washing machine.

"Why don't you just take fucking picture?" she demanded.

Lucas raised his eyebrows, unaffected by her harsh words, "Who pissed in you cornflakes?"

"Brady." she muttered under her breath. Although it wasn't actually piss, she reminded herself, And it wasn't exactly cornflakes either.

Lucas helped Nicole with her laundry, throwing another shirt into the machine, "What did he do now? Oh, wait, let me guess. He rejected you for the millionth time?"

Nicole flushed a deeper shade of red, "Actually, he didn't exactly reject me. In fact, it was kind of the opposite. It proves that we're sexually compatible. I think it just means we might be a little bit too compatible sometimes."

Lucas looked at her in confusion, "Do I really want to know?"

"No, you don't." Nicole watched as Lucas picked up a black shirt from the laundry basket and would have laughed at any other time. If he had known where that had been, he really wouldn't be touching it right now.

"What happened to this?" he asked, dangling the shirt in front of her face, causing all the humiliating memories to come crashing back. Well, if it had been embarrassing for her, she could only imagine how Brady was feeling right now, "It looks likes it covered in white paint."

Nicole winced, "It's white but that's definitely not paint."

"Then what is it? It's like slime." he commented, throwing the shirt into the laundry.

"Well," Nicole decided to tell him the truth. It would be funny to watch his reaction and she could use a laugh after what she had just went through, "I was trying to seduce Brady again and I think it worked a little bit too well."

"What are you getting at, Nicole?" Lucas already looked disgusted so he probably had a very good idea of what she was talking about but Nicole spoke again anyway.

"He went and pulled a Jason Biggs in American Pie on me, dammit!" Nicole looked more frustrated than grossed out, "And he ended up doing it all over the front of my shirt."

Lucas looked really sickened at this news, "Oh, shit, you let me touch that!" he looked so grossed out and was trying so hard to wipe off any remains of the 'white paint' on his jeans that Nicole couldn't help laughing.

"So, he seriously popped his cork like a fifteen year old?" Lucas shook his head, "Are you sure you really want him, Nicole?"

"Yes." Nicole snapped, "I'm going to give him a hundred other chances anyways. Who cares if I might have to train him a little bit?"

Lucas made the sound of a whip cracking and Nicole scowled at him, "Stop that, it's not funny at all. Do you realize how close we were?"

"It sounds like Brady was a little too close, if you know what I mean. He couldn't hold it all in." Lucas burst out laughing and Nicole just looked at him.

"You really think you're funny, don't you?" Nicole shook her head and pulled the black shirt out of the washing machine. Holding it between two fingers gingerly, she gave Lucas a pointed look, "If you don't shut up, I'll throw it on you, I swear to God."

"You should get a sign painted on that shirt." Lucas said through laughter, backing away from Nicole and the soiled shirt, "It could say, 'Brady Black blew his load on this shirt'. I bet Brady would really like that."

"How do you get Sami to put up with you?" she asked, throwing the shirt back into the washing machine.

"Actually, you're one of the only people I purposely try to piss off. Sometimes, it's just so easy. I bet if I wanted to torture you now, all I would have to do is go back upstairs and tell Brady you let it slip that-"

"You wouldn't dare!" suddenly, Nicole grinned at him, "I don't really care what you say. Judging from how close I've already come to sleeping with Brady, there's no way Brady's going to resist me for another two weeks. And Sami still doesn't want to tell anyone and I don't think she's going to budge. She probably doesn't want anyone to know she's with you because it would be so degrading for her to let everyone know how much she's lowered her standards."

"That's not true." Lucas said angrily, "She isn't ashamed of me."

Nicole patted Lucas on the shoulder consolingly, "Keep telling yourself that, Lucas. Ignorance is bliss."

Lucas brushed off her hands and began stalking over to the laundry room exit, "Two weeks! That's all you have left!" Nicole called after him.

Lucas realized that Nicole was right. He only had two weeks left to get Sami to publicly show she had feelings for him. He had to find a way to get her to do it before those two weeks were up, just to prove Nicole wrong. Sami couldn't be ashamed of him. He wanted to get Sami to do it without having to manipulate her too much. He didn't want to trick her into doing it and he didn't want to force her into it either. What options did that leave?

By the time he reached Sami's apartment, he had a plan. He wasn't sure if it would work but it was the only way he might be able to get her to admit it without doing that something that might end up really hurting her. Although, she might not be very happy with him after he put his plan into motion.

He got inside the apartment and found Sami sitting on the couch. She looked up and smiled when she saw him. Going over to the couch, he sat down next to her and took a deep breath.

"Sami, I need to talk to you about something." Lucas began nervously.

"Like what?"

"When are we going to start telling people about us?" he asked after a moment's hesitation.

Sami looked a little bit annoyed, "Why do you keep asking me that? I'm not ready to tell anyone yet. I promise, we'll tell them soon, we just need to wait a little longer."

"All right." Lucas held up his hands in surrender, "I'm not going to ask you again, okay? I'll wait until you're ready to tell everyone and I won't do anything to force you."

"Good." Sami's body relaxed at his words.

"But until we tell everyone, there's going to be some..... conditions." Lucas finished, checking her face to see her reaction.

"What kind of conditions?" Sami asked suspiciously.

"Until we tell everyone, we're not going to have sex." Lucas told her.

Sami just looked at him in shock for a few minutes, then finally exploded, "What do you mean, we're not having sex? Oh, so you're not going to force me but you're going to give me this shitty ultimatum because you think it's going to make me break down and tell everyone? You're using your body to get what you want? Who do you think you are- Nicole?"

"Sami, I just can't take this keeping it a secret for very much longer." Lucas tried to explain, "I do want to be with you but I don't want it to be a secret. I want to be able to hold you and kiss you and tell you I love you wherever I want to and not have to worry about who might be watching."

Sami calmed down a little bit and rubbed her hand against the denim below his belt, "I can wait. Can you?" she purred seductively, eyeing his now straining fly.

Lucas bit back a moan and reluctantly pushed her hands away, "I forget to mention, not only is there is no sex, there's no foreplay, no kissing, no touching, no deliberate physical contact at all. Not until you decide you want to tell everyone about our feelings for each other."

Sami let out a shriek of outrage and jumped off the couch, "Do you still love me?" Lucas called after her as she stormed over to her bedroom.

"Have fun sleeping on the crappy mattress." she retorted, stepping into her room and slamming the door behind her.


	20. Phillip And Shawn Figure It Out

Chapter Twenty

Lucas walked through the streets of Salem Place, making his way back to his car. In one hand, he held a bouquet of red roses while his other hand was gripping the sleek jewellery case he had placed in his pocket. He was making his way past the Java Café when Belle, Shawn and Phillip noticed him. Calling him over to their table, the thee of them smiled curiously at the bouquet of red roses.

"Hey, Lucas." Phillip greeted his brother, still eyeing the flowers, "Who are those for?"

Lucas just grinned in response, "Oh my God, you have a girlfriend, don't you?" Belle's eyes widened at the thought.

"What gave you that idea? Do I glow?" Lucas asked, his words tinged with sarcasm.

The sarcasm seemed to go right over Belle's head, "Yeah, actually, you kind of do. I just never noticed it before. Who is it, Lucas?"

"I can't tell you. Besides, we're sort of estranged at the moment so it doesn't really matter." Lucas replied.

It was true, Sami had been more than a little cold to him after he had given her his no-sex ultimatum. He hoped the flowers and jewellery would help sort of get him back on her good side. He hated having her mad at him but he wasn't going to back down. Even if he lost the bet, he still didn't want to keep their relationship a secret. After the remaining week of the bet was up, if Sami still didn't want to start telling people, he would continue making sure that he and Sami kept their hands off each other. Even if it came dangerously close to killing him.

Belle pouted, "Why can't you tell us? Are you saying we have big mouths and that we'd go around telling everyone in Salem?"

Shawn patted his girlfriend's hand, "I'm sure that's not what Lucas thinks. But it's none of our business anyway. If Lucas doesn't want to tell us, then we have to leave it alone."

"It's not that. I would tell you but I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone and I have to keep that promise." Lucas explained.

"So, does that mean it's someone we know?" Phillip asked.

"Not necessarily." Lucas said slowly but Shawn and Phillip were already exchanging knowing smiles. Belle watched Shawn elbow Phillip and her lower lip stuck out even farther.

"Sha-awn." Belle dragged out his name for an extra few syllables, "Why are you and Phillip looking at each other like that? Do you know something I don't?"

Shawn ignored Belle and watched Phillip mouth something to him. He nodded in agreement and both Shawn and Phillip turned to smirk at Lucas.

"So, Lucas," Phillip began casually, "How long have you and Sami been doing the mattress mambo?"

Lucas stepped into the elevator to his apartment building after his trip to Salem Place. Jan Spears was already on the elevator and her eyes lit up when she saw Lucas.

"Aw, are those for me?" she smiled coyly at the flowers in Lucas' hand, "You shouldn't have."

"Actually, no, they're not for you." Lucas gave the younger woman a fleeting smile. He had spoken to her briefly several days ago when she had been waiting for Nicole outside his apartment. She had been nice enough, she just seemed a little...... ditzy. Besides, judging from what Sami and Nicole said about her, it was obvious that Jan didn't have very many friends and he had decided it wouldn't hurt to be friendly to her.

"Well, I bet I can guess who they're for then." without giving him a chance to reply, Jan quickly changed the subject, "Hey, do you believe in reincarnation?"

Lucas was startled by the sudden change of topic and frowned slightly, "Not really."

Jan looked disappointed, "Oh. Well, you should. I was talking to Celeste about it the other day and guess what?"

"What?"

"You were my sister in one of my past lives." Jan smiled happily, "Isn't that great?"

Lucas' brows furrowed at the comment, "Wouldn't I be your brother?"

"Nope. Nicole was my brother in my past life." Jan told him.

"And Celeste told you all this?" Lucas asked, watching her suspiciously.

The elevator doors opened and Jan and Lucas stepped out into the hallway, "Not exactly." Jan mumbled nervously, "But it's true."

"Okay, Jan. I'll see you later." Lucas stepped into Sami's apartment. Glad to have gotten away from Jan, Lucas made a mental note to stay as far away from that basket case as possible. Now he could understand why Sami and Nicole didn't like her. She obviously wasn't completely sane, not if she really thought he was her sister from her past life.

"Sami!" Lucas called, looking around the apartment. Sami walked out of her bedroom and hid a smile when she saw Lucas. She was still trying to act mad at him but it was getting increasingly hard to do. She couldn't exactly blame him for not wanting to keep their feelings a secret. And if it hadn't been for her bet with Brady, she would have given in a long time ago. But she was so close to winning and she just had to keep her feelings for Lucas private for one more week, then everything would go back to normal.

"I brought you these." Lucas handed her the roses and took her free hand in his. Using his thumb, he began circling her palm in slow, coaxing circles, "I wish you'd stop being mad at me." he murmured and Sami felt herself weakening against the sincere look in his dark eyes. Then she came to her senses and pulled her hand away from him. She didn't care how much stuff he bought her, she didn't care how nice he was to her, she was going to stay mad at him.

"I remember you saying something about no intentional physical contact." she reminded him in an aloof voice.

Lucas sighed and dropped his hand, "You're right. I'm sorry. I'll give you as much time as you need until you're comfortable with telling people. I just don't understand why you won't tell anyone. There is nothing anyone in Salem can do or say to drive us apart if we don't let them. Is that what you're afraid of?"

"No." Sami whispered.

"Then there's some other reason?" Lucas tried thrusting Nicole's words out of his mind but for some reason, they kept resounding in his head.

"She probably doesn't want anyone to know she's with you because it would be so degrading for her to let everyone know how much she's lowered her standards."

"That's not true. She isn't ashamed of me."

"Keep telling yourself that, Lucas. Ignorance is bliss."

Stop it, Lucas, he scolded himself, You know Nicole is a brainless bimbo. She doesn't know what she's talking about. Sami isn't ashamed of you, don't even think that.

Before Sami could reply, the shrill ring of the phone interrupted their conversation. Sami reached over and picked up the phone, "Hello?"

The scream on the other line was so loud, even Lucas could hear it clearly, "Sami!" How could you not tell me you were doing it with Lucas?"

"What?" Sami almost dropped the phone, from both the shock of Belle's words and from Belle's screeching. She looked over at Lucas, who was inwardly berating himself for not giving Sami any warning. He had tried his best to convince Phillip, Shawn and Belle that there was nothing going on between him and Sami but they hadn't bought it, for some reason he would never understand. Not to mention that Belle had been very upset that Phillip and Shawn had realized what was going on and she hadn't.

"Don't even try to deny it!" Lucas could still make out every word Belle was saying, "I know it's true. Man, when even you're getting sex and I'm not, that's a sure sign that life is really starting to suck."

So, even if there's a serial killer running around killing everyone, as long as you're getting some, then everything's perfect? Lucas couldn't resist thinking to himself.

"Belle, who told you that Lucas and I were together?" Sami demanded, glaring at Lucas, "Did Lucas tell you that?"

"No." Belle shot back, "Shawn and Phillip already knew what was going on. I don't know how they found out but they didn't find out from Lucas. Lucas wouldn't tell us."

"I guess they could have found out from Rex or Mimi." Sami mused.

"Rex and Mimi knew? My best friend knew and she didn't tell me?" Belle screeched.

"She was going to but Lucas and I made her promise not to. And you can't tell anyone either. Please, Belle, you can't tell anyone, especially not Brady." Sami pleaded. Lucas frowned. Why was it so important that Brady never found out?

"I guess I can keep quiet. And I am happy for you." Belle said in a calmer voice, "Even if I'm a little jealous that Lucas is having sex with you when Shawn won't have sex with me, I'm happy for you."

"Thanks." Sami got off the phone with Belle and turned back around, "God, I think I'm going to suffer from permanent hearing damage. Honestly, I love her but she can be so annoying sometimes."

"I bet if she and Jan weren't both fighting over the same guy that they'd get along great. Speaking of annoying, I'll have to agree with you, Jan can be very good at getting on your nerves."

"What did she do? You mean you actually talked to her?"

"As much as you can talk to someone who latches onto you if you so much as smile at them." Lucas shook his head in disgust, "Earlier today, she told me I was her sister from her past life."

Sami grinned, glad that their previous conversation seemed to be forgotten, "Not her brother?"

"No, her sister." Lucas grimaced, "With most people, if you decide to be friendly to them, they'll settle for being friendly back. But no, you're nice to this girl and suddenly you're her long lost sister from her past life. She even said that Nicole is her brother."

"Ew, that would mean that you married someone who was your brother in your past life." Sami looked horrified at the idea, "Don't listen to Jan, someone needs to take her away in a straightjacket or something."

Lucas remembered the necklace in his pocket and pulled out the case, "I also got you this." he opened the case to reveal a necklace. Moving so that he was behind her, he gently placed the necklace around her neck and, after struggling with it for a few moments, closed the clasp on the back of the necklace.

"Sami, if Rex and Mimi and Phillip and Shawn and Belle all already know about us, why don't we just-"

Sami turned around and gave Lucas a weak smile, "Thank you for the necklace, Lucas. It's beautiful. I'll wear it to the party at the Blue Note tonight. Speaking of the party, I have to go get ready for it." she turned and headed for her bedroom, letting Lucas know that the subject of telling everyone the truth about their feelings was closed.


	21. The End Of The Bet

Chapter Twenty-One

"Hi, you've reached the house of Kate Brady. I'm unable to come to the phone right now but if you leave your name and number, I'll be happy to get back to you. And if this is Sami, Lucas never wants to see your face again, so stop calling here!" the last words in the message on Kate's answering machine came out in a burst of cold and barely restrained anger, very different from the overly sweet voice Kate had used to begin her message with.

Sami slammed down the phone, then picked it up again. Kate Brady? How dare she even call herself that. Sami decided to try Lucas' cell phone one last time, even though she knew he probably wouldn't pick up. He never picked up the phone anymore. And since he was living with Kate, there was no other way she could reach him.

After letting the phone ring about ten times, she placed it back in it's cradle and rubbed her forehead tiredly. She could not believe that she had lost the bet when she only had a week to go. It had all happened so fast and now Lucas wasn't speaking to her and Nicole was getting Jan to make psychotic phone calls to her. Thinking about what had happened that night at the Blue Note was torture but it seemed to be all did anymore.

**Flashback**

Sami remembered turning Lucas down after he had asked her to dance. She had told him that she didn't like the idea of him touching her at all. She had been sitting with Brady and Nicole and hadn't want Brady to get the wrong idea.

"I told you so." Nicole said to Lucas in a sing-song voice. Although Sami didn't know what Nicole had meant by that comment, she could see how much it upset Lucas. His eyes darkened and his jaw clenched.

"Yeah, maybe you're right, Nicole." Lucas turned to glare at Sami, "Maybe you were right all along. I guess that makes me an idiot for ever trying."

Sami had watched him storm out of the Blue Note. Confused, she left her table and followed him, too distracted to notice that Brady and Nicole had followed her. She caught up to Lucas and grabbed his arm.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

"I think you know." Lucas shook his head, "When Nicole said that you were probably ashamed of being with me, I didn't believe her. But I guess it has to be true. Why else would you keep pretending that you feel nothing for me in public?"

Sami stared at him in shock, "That's not true." not caring who was looking, she wrapped her arms around him, "Lucas, I love you. And I was never ashamed of you. I'm sorry I ever made you feel that way. But I am in love with you and I don't care who knows anymore."

"I knew it!" Brady's triumphant voice cut through the air and he pulled Sami out of Lucas' arms, "She might be in love with you but she's marrying me!"

"Are you insane? Sami wouldn't marry you. Right, Sami?" Lucas had looked at her and she had felt like she was frozen. She couldn't move, she couldn't say anything, she just stood there, probably looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Brady are you crazy?" Nicole demanded, "How can you just decide to marry her after what we did last night?"

Sami finally snapped out of her frozen state and turned to look at Brady, "You had sex, didn't you?" she asked flatly. One look at Brady's face and she knew it was true.

"What the hell? I told you not to have sex with her. Do you have no self-control?" Lucas seemed to have momentarily forgotten that Brady had announced he was marrying Sami. Or maybe he hadn't forgotten and still didn't believe it, "Oh, that's right, according to Nicole, you don't!"

"Lucas!" Nicole eyed him nervously, "Don't say another word."

But Lucas continued speaking, "I'm surprised Nicole decided to give you another chance after the last time you guys almost did it! I heard all about your last attempt."

"Nicole, you whore! You told him about that?" Brady's face turned red and after glaring at Nicole, he turned back to look at Lucas, "Not that it really matters because I'm still marrying Sami and you're not."

"Sami, it's not true, is it?" Brady increased the pressure on Sami's arm and all she could do was whimper softly. Lucas seemed to realize that Brady wasn't kidding and he backed away from Sami, "Why?" he asked. Then, as if he didn't want to hear the answer, he turned and began walking towards his car. By the time he reached his car, Sami was trying desperately to escape Brady's hold.

"Lucas, wait! Brady, let me go!" she tried elbowing him in the stomach but her aim was off and her elbow hit him a little bit lower instead. Brady let go of Sami and doubled over in pain. But before Sami could reach Lucas, he was in his car and backing out of the Blue Note parking lot.

**End Flashback**

Sami's memories were interrupted by the sound of her apartment door swinging open. Brady walked in and Sami glowered at him.

"Get. Out." each word came out of her mouth dripping with repulsion. Brady just smiled and made his way over to her. When he picked up her hand and noticed that it was bare, his smile faded.

"What happened to the ring I gave you?" he asked.

"I threw it away." Sami crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm not marrying you. You can keep your money but I am never going to marry you. And I am going to make Lucas see that this was just a big misunderstanding." she didn't add that she had already tried calling him at least thirty times and that she had even went over to Kate's house to try and talk to him. But Kate had refused to let her in and said that Lucas hated her and wanted nothing to do with her.

"Really?" Brady smirked at her, "If you don't marry me, then I'll tell Lucas everything. I'll tell him you made a bet with me because you thought you knew you couldn't fall for him. And then when you did fall for him, you kept it a secret because Victor's money was more important than he was."

"But that's not true. I tried to call off the bet with you, remember?"

"Lucas doesn't know that. I'll make you sound like an even bigger gold-digging whore than Nicole. I'll make sure that he never speaks to you again." Brady promised, "So, I suggest you just live up to your end of the bet and marry me."

"Why are you doing this? You lost the bet too. You had sex with Nicole, you have to have some feelings for her. Why don't you marry her and leave me alone?"

Brady scowled, "I was actually considering having a relationship with Nicole. Then I found out she told Lucas intimate details of our sex life. Then Lucas decided to rub it in my face. Then you sent me halfway to hell with that elbow job. Give me one good reason why I should do any of you favours?"

"I didn't mean to elbow you there. It was an accident." Sami countered.

"One more accident like that and I'll never be able to make children." Brady retorted angrily, "Look, we're getting married tomorrow. You have to come with me to try on your dress. All the invitations have already been handed out. I just want to get this over with."

"I can't believe you are forcing me to do this." Sami clenched her fists, "I'm going to make sure you pay for this. One day, I am going to make you so sorry." she couldn't say anything else because she was afraid Brady would live up to his threat of bad-mouthing her to Lucas. If there was one thing she didn't need, it was Lucas thinking any worse of her than she already did. Besides, she still had today and some of tomorrow to figure out a way to get out of this mess. The only problem was, so far, she had no idea how she was going to get out marrying Brady.


	22. Lucas And Nicole

Chapter Twenty-Two

Kate walked into her living room to find Lucas moping around on the couch. Sighing, she sat down next to him and gave him a reproachful look.

"Lucas, you need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. And I have the perfect thing that will help you do that."

Lucas looked up at his mother suspiciously, "What?"

"Knock, knock." Kate began cheerfully.

Lucas rolled his eyes, "Who's there?"

"Sami."

Lucas was not sure if he wanted to hear the rest of this joke. Since it was his mother he was dealing with, he had a feeling this joke would do little to cheer him up, "Sami who?"

"Ha! See, you've forgotten about her already!" Kate seemed to find her joke hysterical and began laughing. Lucas just glared at her. She stopped laughing and sighed again, "It really isn't a bad thing that's she's getting married to Brady. Now you can move on and find a nice girl."

"I was in love with Sami, mom. Just leave it alone, okay?" Lucas turned away from Kate, scowling at the sofa cushion. He thought about another time when he was a kid when he had gotten really angry at his mom. He had been so angry, he started punching the couch, then accidentally punched the wooden part and broke his knuckles. From that day on, he had done his best to refrain from punching couches.

"Was? As in past tense? That's a very good thing." Kate chirped, ignoring the warning tone in Lucas' voice.

"Fine, I am in love with Sami. Can you leave me alone now?"

Kate sniffed, "I was only trying to help."

"Well, you weren't doing a very good job." Will broke in. He entered the living room, carrying a stuffed bear in his hands, "Grandma, can I talk to dad alone for a minute?"

Kate sniffed again but left the room anyway. Will sat down next to Lucas and played with the ribbon around the teddy bear's neck, "Dad, you can't let Uncle Brady marry mom. You love her and she loves you. You can still stop the wedding, it doesn't start for another hour and a half."

"Will, I can't do that. If this is what your mom wants-"

"But it's not!" Will cried, "She's been so sad and she tries to call you about a million times a day but you won't talk to her."

Lucas winced, "Will, I'm not ready to talk about this."

"Will you talk about it with Floom-Floom then?" Will held up the teddy bear.

"Floom-Floom?"

"It's mom's bear but I brought it with me to Grandma Kate's. She calls is Mr. Fuzzy but I'm on a first name basis with him. His full name is Floomikumaraswamy but I call him Floom-Floom for short. Mom talks to him all the time." he set the bear down on the couch, "I'll be back in later."

Lucas looked over at the bear, which seemed to be staring at him. After a few minutes of silence, he snapped, "I'm not going to talk to a stuffed animal."

The bear looked sad. Or maybe Lucas was just going crazy. But it looked really upset with him, "Quit looking at me like that."

The bear now looked like it was scowling at him, "Quit doing that, you're not the one who lost the girl of your dreams to her stupid step-brother who can't even perform properly!"

I am talking to this bear, Lucas realized, I really am going crazy. 

"I'm not talking to you anymore." not wanting to see the bear looking at him anymore, he pushed it off the couch and watched it land face-down on the floor.

Kate opened her front door and frowned when she saw Nicole, "What do you want?"

"I need to talk to Lucas." Nicole retorted.

"Why?"

"So the two of us can elaborately plan your death." Nicole replied sarcastically, "I just need to talk to him. I was going to talk to him last night but it got too late. It's really important."

"I'm sure it is. God, I don't understand why my son seems to enjoy entertaining whores so much. First Sami and now you." Kate said in a disgusted tone.

"Let me in." Nicole tried pushing past Kate but Kate pushed her off the front step and slammed the door quickly.

Nicole took a deep breath to calm herself. She was trying to find an open window she could get in through when she noticed Will sliding open a window upstairs.

"Come around the side of the house and I'll open the back door for you." he said, leaving his position next to the window. Nicole frowned but went around to the back door. Will was waiting for her.

"Did you come to talk to my dad to try and convince him to stop the wedding?" Will asked, his eyes lighting up excitedly.

Nicole smiled patiently at Will, peering further into the house for signs of Lucas. She had to talk to him right away. She was not going to let Sami marry Brady, "Something like that. Where is he? Can I talk to him?"

Will grinned, "Sure. He's been confiding in mom's teddy bear for the last little while so I'm sure he'll be happy to have a real person to talk to."

A teddy bear? Please tell me he hasn't pulled a Jan Spears on me and turned into a useless lunatic, Nicole thought. Will frowned when he entered the living room.

"He must have went in the kitchen." Will pointed to a door, then bent down to pick up the bear on the floor, "I have to go now. Grandma Marlena and Grandpa John said they'd come pick me up and drive me down to the wedding early and they should be here by now." Will left the room and Nicole walked through the kitchen doors. Lucas was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Were you really talking to a teddy bear?" Nicole asked him, sitting down on the chair across from his.

Lucas looked up in surprise, "No. But the bear was creepy so I came in here. How did you get in?"

"Will let me in." Nicole answered, "Lucas, I have to tell you something about the wedding. I overheard Brady and Sami talking last night and-"

"Nicole, I don't want to talk about it." Lucas stood up, "If she wants to be with Brady, if that's what's going to make her happy, I'm not going to interfere." he stood up and started walking away from Nicole.

Nicole also stood up and grabbed a dish towel sitting on the counter, "Hey, I was talking to you, Lucas Roberts. Do not walk away from me like that. I will punish you." she whipped him in the butt with the dishtowel as hard as she could.

"Ow! Dammit, Nicole, what did I ever do to you?"

"You were born."

"Sorry!"

"I know you're sorry, now apologize." Nicole pushed him back into the chair, "Now, you are going to listen to me, got it?"

"Fine." Lucas said resentfully.

"Okay, I overheard Sami and Brady arguing. Sami said she wasn't going to marry Brady and that she was going to sort things out with you. Then Brady threatened to tell you everything."

"What did he mean by that?"

"He said something about the two of them making some kind of a bet where she couldn't fall in love with you or she would have to marry him or something like that. I guess that's why she wouldn't tell anyone about the two of you. He said that he was going to make her out to sound like a gold-digging whore. And according to Sami, she tried to call off the bet but Brady wouldn't let her. See, she doesn't want to marry him but Brady is pretty much forcing her to do it." Nicole finished.

"Then she doesn't care about him at all. Thank God." Lucas felt a surge of relief and hope, "You know, I thought I had done something wrong when I found out Sami was going to marry Brady. I felt like she thought she would be better of with Brady. I thought I had screwed up but I didn't know how I had screwed up and I just felt awful."

"Awwwww." Nicole tilted her head and her eyes were sympathetic, "I never knew you had feelings. I thought you were just a walking hormone with a nice body."

"Yeah, well, you thought wrong." Lucas mumbled.

"What were you thinking, falling in love with the woman who has hurt you too many times to count anyways?" Nicole asked.

"I wasn't thinking, I was feeling."

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww." she stretched the aw out even longer that time and Lucas looked up and glared at her.

"Don't you dare say 'aw' one more time." Lucas said, looking annoyed.

"Aw, you're blushing."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. That is so cute." Nicole continued to mock him.

"What do you want me to do exactly?" Lucas asked, getting her off the subject of how cute he was, "You want me to stop wedding?"

"Exactly." Nicole grinned, "And if I remember correctly, you're my slave until June. So, I'm not asking you to stop the wedding, I'm telling you to."

"All right." Lucas stood up, "I guess we should go then."

Before he and Nicole could even step outside the kitchen, Kate barged into the room, flanked by two large, muscular men, "You're not going anywhere! This wedding will go on. I will not let you be with Sami."

"Are those your new boyfriends, Kate?" Nicole asked, not looking worried at all.

"No, they're my neighbors. They baby-sit Will for me when I'm at work." Kate responded icily.

"You let those thugs baby-sit my son?" Lucas looked offended.

"I resent that." one of the men said, "We're not as stupid as we look."

"Not to mention the fact that they are going to help make sure you don't do something you'll regret." Kate turned to hand the men a pile of ropes, "Go ahead. Tie them up."


	23. The Wedding

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Ouch, Lucas, not so hard!"

"I'm sorry but if we want to do this quick, I'm going to have to do it hard!"

Joe and Frank stared at each other in confusion. They had just finished locking the man and woman up in a closet, after tying them to some chairs. But from the sounds of things, the two of them had already managed to escape their binds and were not having such a bad time in the closet together. Joe shrugged his shoulders.

"We might as well leave them to it. I don't want to hear any sound effects." Joe said to Frank, heading for the door.

"But Kate just left for the wedding." Frank protested, "She told us to stay here and make sure that they didn't leave the closet."

"So? It's not our problem, we tied the people up like we were supposed to. Can we help it if they got out of the ropes already? Let's go, this is boring." giving in to his friend's words, Frank followed Joe out of Kate's house.

Inside the closet, Lucas continued moving his arm along the rope, trying to wear the rope away. Rope burns stung his wrists and forearms but he gritted his teeth and tried to focus on anything other than the burning sensation in his arms. Nicole, however, was not doing the same. She was also trying to wear the rope away but she wasn't trying anywhere near as hard as Lucas was, she was too busy whining about how much her wrists hurt to really concentrate on wearing away the ropes.

"Ow! God, the things I do for Brady. And I don't even know why anymore. He acts more and more like Victor every day." Nicole complained, "I can totally imagine Victor doing to this to someone if given the opportunity. I can't believe I married Victor."

"At least your mom doesn't lock you up in closets in order to keep you away from the love of your life!" Lucas fumed, "Stupid bitch. I swear, Will and I are not having anything more to do with her after this. Will's not even going to go to her funeral when she dies."

"You sound like Eminem." Nicole muttered, wincing as the rope abraded her sensitive skin, "But I agree, you should do everything you can to make her miserable after what she's caused you to put my poor wrists through!"

Lucas and Nicole were sitting back to back on separate chairs in the dark closet, their wrists tied together tightly by the ropes Kate had given the two men. Lucas knew they had to keep working to get out of the ropes. He didn't know how long it would take but he knew they had to get the ropes off before Sami and Brady got married.

*******************************************************************************

"I still don't get it." Belle said as Sami wrung her hands together, "One day you're doing it with Lucas and the next you're marrying Brady. Where is the sense in that?"

It was about the fifth time she had asked that question and Sami was beginning to seriously regret ever having asked her to be her bridesmaid, "I told you already! It is complicated and I don't want to talk about it!"

Belle looked taken aback, "Okay, then. You don't need to bite my head off."

Sami was instantly contrite, "I'm sorry, Belle. It's just not a very good day for me and I'm a little short-tempered right now. Don't worry about it."

"It's not a very good day for you? But you're getting married." Belle pointed out, "How could it not be a good day? Don't you love Brady?"

"Not even the slightest little bit." Sami said honestly, "The truth is, I cannot stand him."

"Then why are you marrying him?" Belle inquired.

There, she had now pretty much asked Sami the same question at least six times, "None of your business!"

Belle looked irritated now, "I'm too perfect to allow myself to be treated like this. I'm going to go find Shawn. He never talks to me like this."

Sami sighed and raked her shaky hands through her hair. She fingered the material of the wedding gown and sighed again, wishing she was anywhere but where she was at that moment.

*******************************************************************************

"I'm hungry." Nicole announced as she and Lucas continued to work on the ropes.

"You look it." Lucas told her.

"Are you saying I'm too skinny?" Nicole didn't wait to hear his answer, "Do you realize that I am plotting your mother's death at this very moment. It will be messy and I will not feel bad."

"Shut up and help me with these ropes." Lucas grumbled.

"I am. I just happen to be talking at the same time. I can multi-task you know. I'm not single-minded like you." Nicole shot back.

"I am not single-minded." Lucas replied.

"Yes, you are. All you ever talked to me about was Sami-this and Sami-that." it was an exaggeration but Nicole didn't care. The rope burns were making her cranky and she could tell they were having the same effect on Lucas.

"What about you and Brady? He isn't a god or something, Nicole. Of course, he probably is to you considering you could never get someone like him." Lucas said.

"I think I already did." Nicole reminded him.

"That was 'getting him'. He threw you out of his bed after your sleazy night of sex and went after someone else. He treated you like the tramp you are, just like almost every other man in your life."

"You didn't!" Nicole flung at him.

"That's because I was stupid and I wasn't able to see you for what you really were. But Brady saw right through you and once he realized how cheap you were, he tossed you aside." Lucas said.

"So, you're saying that I'm never going to get a guy who's going to love me for who I am?"

"Precisely."

Nicole fell silent and focussed all her attention on wearing out the ropes, ignoring the tears that were beginning to trickle down her cheeks.

*******************************************************************************

John watched as the proceedings continued, grumbling under his breath. Marlena looked over at him and frowned.

"You've been in a bad mood ever since you found Sami and Brady were getting married. What is wrong with you?" she demanded.

"What is wrong with me? It's more like, what is wrong with them?" he sputtered, pointing at Brady and Sami, "They can't get married. I'll never be able to live it down."

"Why is so bad that they get married? I'll admit, I didn't see it coming but I don't see why you're making such a big deal out of this." Marlena replied.

"I raised both of them. Sami is my little girl and Brady is my little boy. This is wrong. Belle and Brady might as well get married then, at least they get along!" John countered.

"Please, John, don't wreck their wedding day with all your negativity. Don't you want them to be happy?" Marlena asked.

"Oh, yeah, Brady looks like he's having a fabulous time." John muttered sarcastically, "And Sami is just jumping for joy, isn't she?"

"They don't look very happy, do they?" Marlena now noticed that both Brady and Sami looked miserable but she hadn't noticed before because she was too busy brooding over whether or not to sneak off and fill the cake with blood like she had at Roman and Kate's wedding.

"I'm telling you, Doc, this is no wedding. For people like me, it's a provocation for suicide. And that's a fact." John added.

*******************************************************************************

"Nicole, are you crying?" Lucas asked after hearing her sniffle a couple times.

"Yes." Nicole finally sobbed, "It's these rope burns. They're so painful."

"Liar. I made you cry, didn't I? Now you're making me feel bad, stop it."

"I'm not crying over what you said." Nicole retorted, "I'm crying because my rope burns hurt and because I'm scared that Brady is going to marry Sami when I don't want him to."

"Okay." Lucas continued working on the ropes and was silent for a few minutes, "I'm sorry though. I didn't mean what I said."

"I said I didn't care!" Nicole said defensively just as the final strands of the ropes gave away. Lucas began unknotting the binding around his and Nicole's other wrist while Nicole undid the knots around her ankles. After all of the knots were untied, they stood up and rushed out of the house.

"God, I hope he didn't marry her yet." Nicole said breathlessly, jumping into the passenger seat of the Lambourgini that was now Lucas'.

*******************************************************************************

Kate sighed with relief. No one had voiced any objections about Sami and Brady getting married, meaning neither Lucas or Nicole had burst it at last minute, ruining the wedding. Too bad for Sami, she thought wickedly. She had seen the way the woman's eyes had looked around the room hopefully, as if praying that Lucas would show up and stop the wedding. But he hadn't. And now the moment Kate had been waiting for had finally come.

"You may now kiss the bride." Kate leaned back in her seat and stared hard at Sami and Brady, waiting for them to exchange the kiss that would ensure Sami would never have anything to do with her son ever again.


	24. The Wedding's Conclusion

Chapter Twenty-Four

And Sami had thought getting the words 'I do' to come out of her mouth had been hard.

No, having to kiss Brady was much worse. She stared at his lips distastefully. She knew that less than a week ago, those lips had probably been all over Nicole. Ew. Not to mention the stuff he put into his mouth. She had once caught him eating broccoli covered in peanut butter. There was something very wrong with that.

But it wasn't just the fact that the idea of kissing Brady repulsed her or that exchanging saliva with her step-brother in front of all these people would be incredibly humiliating. More than anything else, it was the fact that Brady wasn't Lucas. Thinking about the way Lucas' hands had caressed her skin and the way she had felt when he kissed was enough to make her forget where she was. He was the only one she dreamed about at night, the one who made an appearance in every single one of her fantasies. It was him. Always him.

Brady leaned down slightly and Sami shrunk back in response. Everyone watched as Brady advanced on Sami, who took another step backwards.

"What is she doing?" Kate mumbled to herself, "Why doesn't she just kiss him and put us all out of our misery?"

"Sami, what are you doing?" Brady hissed through clenched teeth. Sami walked backwards so far that she knocked over a potted flower that had been decorating the front of the garden. The pot fell over with a loud crash and dirt spilled out the pot.

The priest looked confused, "Is something wrong? I just said you may now kiss the-"

"Everyone heard you the first time." Sami cut him off, "But there is no way in hell I am kissing that." she pointed to Brady, who scowled petulantly.

John smiled proudly at his step-daughter, "That's my girl."

"John, you do realize that she is making a fool out of your son in front of all of Salem, don't you?" Marlena asked and John just continued grinning. He knew that one of them had to back out, he just couldn't fathom the idea of those two actually going through with this wedding.

Phillip, who was sitting in one of the front rows, couldn't resist pointing at Brady and laughing, "Oh, man, you just got shot down. I knew she didn't want you. I knew she still loved my brother!"

Mimi turned around to look at the person who was rushing up to the altar, "Speaking of your brother, it looks like he's finally decided to make an appearance."

Everyone turned to watch as Lucas rushed up to the altar, "You're not going to marry her, Brady!" Lucas shouted. Sami's eyes lit up when she saw Lucas and she tried to step off the altar to meet him but Brady grabbed her arm.

"We had an agreement." Brady reminded her, not letting go of her arm. Will dropped the pillow that had been holding the rings and kicked Brady hard in the shin.

"Leave my mom alone." he said, while Brady stared at him in shock.

"You're definitely Sami's son." Brady muttered, watching as Sami caught up to Lucas. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his shoulder.

"Lucas, I'm sorry." she murmured, oblivious to the stares and hushed whispers everyone was directing at them. Lucas stroked her hair.

"It's okay, Sami. I know what happened. We can talk about more once we get you out of here. Come on, let's go." he took her hand and he lead her over to his car, where Nicole was waiting for them.

Kate was trying to wriggle out of John's gasp as Lucas and Sami walked away, "Get your hands off of me. I must save my son!"

"Your son doesn't need to be saved, Kate. Leave it alone." John said hoarsely, watching as Nicole, Lucas and Sami drove off in a dark blue Lambourgini.

"How could you pull something like that, Sami?" Brady demanded, pacing back and forth on her kitchen floor. He, Nicole, Lucas and Sami were all standing in the kitchen a few hours after Lucas had arrived at the wedding and ran off with Sami. Brady had finally tracked them down and was very upset.

"You were the one who practically forced her to marry you. Thank God we got there in time. If you guys had kissed and then signed the marriage license, I don't know what I would have done." Nicole broke in. Brady turned to glare at her.

"You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Why should I? I heard you and Sami talking and I know all about your little bet. And Lucas knows too so there's no way your plan to turn him against Sami is going to work." Nicole retorted hotly.

"Nicole! Why are you helping them?" Brady asked, stunned by her outright betrayal.

"Because I feel like it!"

"Fine." Brady directed his attention back to Sami. He pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and held it up, "You see this? This was your check for half of the money Victor left me. But because you did this, you're never going to get it- hey!" Brady yelped in outrage when Nicole snatched the check out of his hand. She handed it to Sami, then stood in front of both Sami and Lucas.

When Brady tried to take a step towards Sami, Nicole held up her hands threateningly, "Stay away. Sami oozes disease and she's highly contagious."

"Then why are you and Lucas standing so close to her?" Brady shot back.

Nicole smiled enigmatically, "Me and Lucas are safe. We already ooze."

"Speak for yourself." Lucas spoke up.

"Sami deserves that money after everything you put her through." Nicole added, turning serious, "Why would you try and ruin not one, but three people's lives by marrying Sami? You don't even like her."

"He did it so you would leave him alone." Sami answered for Brady. Nicole looked at Brady for confirmation and Brady was unable to stop himself from looking guilty.

"If that is what you wanted, you didn't have to bring Sami and Lucas into it." Nicole said, her voice quivering, "But if that's what you want, fine. I hope you're happy now." she hurried out of the apartment. Brady threw Sami a horrified look before turning to chase after Nicole.

"Brady's an even bigger jerk than I thought he was." Lucas shook his head in disgust, "Did he really blackmail you into marrying him just to get Nicole off his back?"

"Yes." Sami looked a little worried, "What do you think Nicole is going to do?"

"She'll probably scream at him for a while. But if Brady apologizes and stops acting like such an ass to her, then they'll make up." Lucas predicted, "Nicole's going to end up giving him another chance, even if he doesn't deserve it. She really cares about him, although I'll never be able to figure out why."

Sami shifted uncomfortably before speaking, "Lucas, I really am sorry about putting you through everything with Brady and for making you keep our relationship a secret for so long. When I first made the bet with Brady, I thought I could handle it but then everything got out of hand. I didn't think it would be so hard to stop myself from falling for you. But the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you."

Lucas placed his thumb on her chin and turned her head so she was looking at him, "Sami, it's okay. I just wish you would have told me about the bet, we could have worked something out. But I can't stay mad at you for what happened because the truth is, I made a bet too."

Sami looked at him in amazement, "With who?"

"Nicole." Lucas lowered his eyes to the floor, "I had to get you to fall for me and be affectionate with me in public by the beginning of May. That was why I was sort of pushing you to start telling people. It was wrong and I never should have been so hard on you. So, I'll forgive you if you can forgive me."

Sami narrowed her eyes, "On one condition."

"What's that?"

"That neither of us ever make another bet for the rest of our lives." Sami responded, smirking at him.

Lucas grinned, "Sounds good to me." he slowly lowered his head and brushed against her lips in a gentle, lingering kiss, "I love you."

"I love you too, Lucas."


End file.
